Mammals · Artiodactyla · Bovidae
Urial
Ovis vignei
Vulnerable
At high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term.
The urial is a wild sheep of the arid foothills of central and western Asia, between Iran and Ladakh. The males carry horns curving backwards and a spectacular black-and-white bib falling from the throat to the chest. Unlike the argali it prefers gentle slopes and rolling hills to steeper ground. Competition with domestic livestock for grazing, together with hunting, has fragmented its populations, now reduced to isolated pockets.
Weight
25 kg – 90 kg
Size
1.1 m – 1.5 m
Life expectancy
12 years
