The urial ( OOR-ee-əl; Ovis vignei ), also known as the arkars or shapo, is a wild sheep native to Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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GrazingGrazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multicellular organisms such as algae. In agriculture...
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NomadicNomadic animals regularly move to and from the same areas within a well-defined range. Most animals travel in groups in search of better territorie...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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HerdingA herd is a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withThe urial, also known as the arkars or shapo, is a subspecies group of the wild sheep. Six to nine subspecies can be recognized, differing in the size and color of the male's winter neck-ruff, and the color of its saddle patch and its horn shape. Males have massive horns, the females' horns being much smaller. Their hair is generally brownish red, and males have white ‘beards’ below their mouth, while females are usually the same color over their whole body, with the exception of their legs near the hooves.
The urial inhabits western central Asia from the northeast of Iran and the west of Kazakhstan to Balochistan in Pakistan and the Ladakh regions in North India. It lives in steep grassy terrain below the tree line. It may also occur in agricultural fields and occasionally in partly wooded, mountainous areas.
Urial sheep are primarily diurnal, and forage for most of the day. They move within a range, but they do not maintain territories. These sheep are gregarious, forming herds of related individuals. The make-up of a herd is usually females, lambs, and juveniles. Older rams form separate groups where the members are all male. Herds maintain a social structure where dominance is based on an animal's body size. These relationships are evident, particularly in ram herds, with dominance being based largely on horn size: the bigger the horns, the higher up the ranking is the individual. Dominant males are a stabilizing force for sheep society in that they prevent younger rams harassing females. These younger males are more bullying and aggressive towards ewes than the older males. Aggressive interactions between individuals of similar size usually include front kicks and head twists. These sheep do not rear up on their back legs when fighting.
Urial sheep are herbivorous and eat a range of unspecified plants, probably grasses and shrubs. They also eat grains.
Urial sheep are polygynous, which means that one male mates with multiple females. The mating season runs from November to December. Ewes bear one lamb after a 5-month gestation period. 2 or 3 lambs may be born to older ewes. Females separate themselves from their herd before giving birth. After birthing, mothers and their lambs stay away from the herd for a period of 3 to 7 days. This is a time when the lamb gains in strength and the mother and her baby learn to recognize one another by smell. They then return to their herd. Lambs nurse from their mothers for 5-6 months, possibly nibbling on vegetation within a month after birth. Ewes are sexually mature when they are 1.5 years old, and can produce their first offspring at 2 years of age.
Urial sheep are under threat from the expansion into their habitat of agriculture, other changes to their habitat by humans, and indiscriminate hunting for trophies, causing a serious decline in their population. These sheep are considered particularly vulnerable because they inhabit low, open country where livestock commonly graze, meaning that urial sheep must compete with domestic livestock for food.
The total number of urial sheep is unknown for today. According to the Wikipedia, there are 145 Afghan urials found in Surghar, Srakhowa District Musakhel (Pakistan). Urial sheep numbers are decreasing today and they are listed as vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List.
Urial sheep influence their habitat's vegetative composition through grazing.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...