Urial
The mouflon (Ovis gmelini) is a wild sheep native to the Caspian region. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds.
The coat of the mouflon is reddish-brown and short-haired, and a dark stripe runs along its back, with lighter-colored patches on the side. The males have large horns of a sickle shape, prized by many trophy hunters. Females have horns too, but much smaller ones than those of males. The adult males develop a large ruff of coarse long hair on their chest, which is white at the throat, becoming black towards the forelegs.
Mouflons are found in the Lesser Caucasus in southeastern Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, and in Iran's western Alborz region and the Zagros Mountains spanning across eastern Iraq and western Iran. Mouflons are nomadic animals, often moving to seek new areas for food. During winter they migrate to lower altitudes to avoid the very low temperatures and scarcity of food. Mouflons prefer open rough terrain at medium or high altitudes, where they inhabit rocky hill country, lowland and highland shrubland, rocky semi-deserts, grass-covered slopes, and alpine meadows. They may also occur in agricultural areas.
Males and female mouflons live in separate groups, only coming together for the mating season. The dominance of a male depends on his age and how big his horns are. Fights between males about their harem of females rarely cause serious injuries, and the winner does not make any further attacks. The two contestants will graze alongside each other, with the winner every now and again initiating an "appeasement ceremony" where he presents his neck to be licked by the other male, sometimes kneeling for this purpose. Mouflons usually feed early in the day as well as during the evening and will rest during the day when they can be well hidden, under an overhanging rock or bush. The females usually have better foraging areas because their health is of more importance for reproduction.
Mouflons are herbivores (graminivores) and feed on various grasses.
Mouflons are polygynous meaning that one male mates with multiple females during the breeding season. Before mating season or "rut", which is from late autumn to early winter, males try to create a dominance hierarchy to determine access to females for mating. The gestation period usually lasts 5 months, in which females produce 1 to 2 offspring. Newly born lambs can stand on their feet within a few minutes, and soon after birth, they can run about. The young remain closely tied to their mothers, suckling every 10 to 15 minutes. Mouflons become reproductively mature at the age of 2 to 4 years. Young males need to obtain dominance before they get a chance to mate, which takes another 3 years for them to start mating. Females also go through a similar hierarchy process in terms of social status in the first 2 years but can breed even at low status.
Mouflons are threatened by expanding agriculture and farming, which has reduced population numbers and dispersed individuals into small, fragmented groups. Overgrazing throughout their range due to the expansion of sheep farming has resulted in erosion, reducing this species' suitable habitat. Consequently, pressure on hunting is high, which leads to a fragmented distribution. Parasites and contagious diseases from domestic livestock, especially domestic sheep, in many areas, are a major threat. Poachers take adult males for the value of their horns as trophies, and lambs are sometimes poached at birth to become pets.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total global population size of the mouflon is about 26,500 individuals including 16,000 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List.
