Himalayan blue sheep, Naur, Barhal, Bharar, Bharut, Na, Sna, Nabo, Gnao , Blue sheep
The bharal (Pseudois nayaur ), also called the blue sheep, is a caprine native to the high Himalayas. It is the only member of the genus Pseudois. It occurs in India, Bhutan, China (in Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia), Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The Helan Mountains of Ningxia have the highest concentration of bharal in the world, with 15 bharals per km2 and 30,000 in total.
Its native names include yanyang (岩羊) in Mandarin, bharal, barhal, bharar, and bharut in Hindi, na or sna in Tibetan and Ladakh, nabo in Spitian, naur in Nepali and na or gnao in Bhutan.The bharal was also the focus of George Schaller and Peter Matthiessen's expedition to Nepal in 1973. Their personal experiences are well documented by Matthiessen in his book, The Snow Leopard. The bharal is a major prey of the snow leopard.
The bharal is a caprine, or, more informally, a goat-antelope (although they are not considered antelopes). They have a short, dense coat that is slate grey in color, sometimes with a bluish sheen. The underparts and backs of their legs are white, while the chest and fronts of the legs are black. There is a charcoal-colored stripe separating the grey back and white belly. The ears are small, and the bridge of the nose is dark. The horns are found in both sexes and are ridged on the upper surface. In males, they grow upwards, then turn sideways and curve backward, looking somewhat like an upside-down mustache. In females, the horns are much shorter and straighter. Males in this species are slightly larger than females.
Bharal are found in the high Himalayas of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, and Pakistan. They live on open grassy slopes in high mountains and are usually found near cliffs but try to avoid forested areas. These animals are tolerant of extreme weather conditions and can be found from desert mountains in searing heat to windy and cold slopes.
Bharal are active throughout the day and spend their time feeding and resting on the grassy mountain slopes. Due to their excellent camouflage and the absence of cover in their environment, bharal remain motionless when approached. Once they have been noticed, however, they scamper up to the precipitous cliffs, where they once again freeze, using camouflage to blend into the rock face. Bharal are social animals and their herds usually range from 5 to 400 individuals. The size of the herd depends on the season, habitat condition, hunting pressure, and disturbance. Males may even sometimes gather in all-male herds or mix with family groups. When being aggressive bharal will horn vegetation, jump, shake their heads, jerk, and lunge, butt, and clash among the members. Females may even bite each other.
Bharal are herbivores (graminivores, folivores) and feed on grass, herbs, shrubs, lichens, and mosses.
Little information is known about the mating system in bharal. The rutting season starts in late November and continues until mid-January. During the rut, males use multiple strategies for mating, namely tending, blocking, and coursing. The gestation period lasts around 160 days after which a single kid is born. Twins are born rarely. Young are usually weaned at 6 months of age and reach reproductive maturity when they are 1,5 years old.
Poaching for meat and competition with livestock pose the main threats to these animals. However, poaching is uncommon due to the unsuitable conditions of the bharal habitat. Similarly, livestock do not generally frequent the mountainous regions where bharal occur, and even if they do coexist no notable detrimental effect on bharal has been observed.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total population size of bharal is around 47,000-414,000 individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
