Bharal

Bharal (blue sheep)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Genus: Pseudois
Species: P. nayaur
Binomial name
Pseudois nayaur
Hodgson, 1833

The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep or naur (Pseudois nayaur) is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Pakistan. Its native names include bharal, barhal, bharar and bharut in Hindi, na or sna in Ladakh, nabo in Spitian, naur in Nepali and na or gnao in Bhutan.[2]

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 of the snow leopard.

Description

This medium-sized caprid is 115 to 165 cm (45 to 65 in) long along the head-and-body, with a tail of 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in). They stand 69 to 91 cm (27 to 36 in) high at the shoulder. Body mass can range from 35 to 75 kg (77 to 165 lb). Males are slightly larger than females. The short, dense coat is slate grey in colour, sometimes with a bluish sheen. The underparts and backs of the legs are white, while the chest and fronts of the legs are black. Separating the grey back and white belly is a charcoal colored stripe. 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 backwards, looking somewhat like an upside-down moustache. They may grow to a length of 80 cm (31 in). In females, the horns are much shorter and straighter, growing up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long.[3][4]

Taxonomy and evolution

Biology and behaviour

Herd of bharal grazing
Blue sheep Pseudois nayaur
A kid blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur)

Rutting behaviour

The rutting of the bharal starts towards late November and continues until mid-January. During the rut, male bharal use multiple strategies for mating, namely tending, blocking, and coursing.[5] The young are born in late June and July.

Ecology

Bharal are active throughout the day, alternating between 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. Population densities in Nepal were found to be 0.9–2.7 animals per square kilometer, increasing to a maximum of 10 animals per square kilometer in the winter, as herds congregate in valleys.[3] Bharal are mainly grazers, but during times of scarcity of grass, they switch to herbs and shrubs.[6] A high degree of diet overlap between livestock (especially donkeys) and bharal, together with density-dependent forage limitation, results in resource competition and a decline in bharal density.[7] Where they overlap, they are the favored prey of snow leopards and leopards, with a few lambs falling prey to foxes or eagles.[3]

Threats and conservation

The bharal is categorised as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The population faces two threats: poaching for meat and competition with livestock. Poaching, however, is uncommon due to the unsuitable conditions of its habitat. Similarly, livestock do not generally frequent the mountainous regions where bharal occur; even if they do coexist no notable detrimental effect on the bharal has been observed.[1]

Relationship with humans

Many Buddhist monasteries protect the bharal found around them, but lately, issues of crop damage caused by bharal have started to arise in areas such as the Spiti Valley.

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). "Pseudois nayaur". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ↑ The great and small game of India, Burma and Tibet, p 93, Richard Lydekker (1900)
  3. 1 2 3 Bharal, Himalayan blue sheep Archived 2015-04-06 at the Wayback Machine.. Ultimateungulate.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-23.
  4. ↑ Smith, A. T., Xie, Y. (eds.) (2008) A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton Oxforshire ISBN 0691099847.
  5. ↑ Lovari, Sandro; Som Ale (2001). "Are there multiple mating strategies in the blue sheep?". Behavioural Processes. 53 (1–2): 131–135. PMID 11255000. doi:10.1016/S0376-6357(00)00134-0.
  6. ↑ Suryawanshi, Kulbhushansingh; Bhatnagar, YV; Mishra C (2010). "Why Should a Grazer Browse? Livestock impact on winter resource use by bharal Pseudois nayaur". Oecologia. 162 (2): 453–462. PMID 19784849. doi:10.1007/s00442-009-1467-x.
  7. ↑ Mishra, Charudutt; Van Wieren, Sipke E.; Ketner, Pieter; Heitkonig, Ignas M. A.; Prins, Herbert H. T. (2004). "Competition between domestic livestock and wild bharal Pseudois nayaur in the Indian Trans-Himalaya" (PDF). Journal of Applied Ecology. 41 (2): 344–354. doi:10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00885.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27.
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