Bharal
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| Bharal | ||||||||||||||||
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 Bharals in Beijing zoo
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| Pseudois nayaur Hodgson, 1833 |
The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, China, Kashmir, Pakistan, Bhutan and the Republic of India.
The bharal has horns that grow upwards, curve out and then towards the back, somewhat like an upside down mustache.
The bharal was also the focus of George Schaller's 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 food source of the snow leopard.
The Dwarf Blue Sheep (P. schaeferi) is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the bharal.
[edit] Species and Subspecies
- Chinese Blue Sheep, Pseudois nayaur szechuanensis
- Himilayan Blue Sheep, Pseudois nayaur nayaur
- Helen Shan Slue Sheep, Pseudois nayaur ssp
- Dwarf Blue Sheep, Pseudois schaeferi
[edit] References
- Harris (2003). Pseudois nayaur. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is of least concern
- Bharal at Animal Diversity Web
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