{"id":214,"date":"2014-01-21T06:24:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T06:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tibetnature.lhasocialwork.com\/en\/?p=214"},"modified":"2014-02-21T06:33:12","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T06:33:12","slug":"tibetan-argali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/tibetan-argali\/","title":{"rendered":"TIBETAN ARGALI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ovis ammon hodgsoni<\/em><\/p>\n

Physical Description<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Argali, or the Asian Wild Sheep, is the largest species of wild sheep in the world. The Tibetan Argali is one of the eight recognized subspecies\u00a0of the Argali. The Tibetan Argali has light grayish brown upper parts that are darker along the back, a white belly, and a white rump\u00a0patch. The white rump patch surrounds the Tibetan Argali\u2019s black-tipped tail, which, at less than six centimetres (2.4 inches) long, is the\u00a0shortest tail of the Argali sub-species.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: www.argalinetwork.wordpress.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A stripe runs along the side of the Tibetan Argali\u2019s body, separating the light belly from the darker upper\u00a0parts. During the winter, the contrast between the light and dark parts of the Tibetan Argali\u2019s body becomes more pronounced. The lateral stripe\u00a0darkens in color, and the backs of the legs, the face, and the male\u2019s neck ruff turn white.<\/p>\n

The Argali has very large, corkscrew-like horns that grow throughout the sheep\u2019s life. The horns of Tibetan Argali rams are ridged and the horn\u00a0tips, which point forwards and sometimes outwards, are usually broken or splintered.<\/p>\n

The longest horns of a male Tibetan argali that have been\u00a0measured were 145 centimetres (4.8 feet) long. The horns of female Tibetan argalis are significantly smaller and shorter than those of the males.<\/p>\n

The longest horns of a female Tibetan argali that have been measured were 46 centimetres (1.5 feet) long.\u00a0The Tibetan Argali has a compact body and long legs. Tibetan Argali rams stand about 118 centimetres (3.9 feet) tall at the shoulder and weigh\u00a0an average of 105 kilograms (231 pounds). Females stand 104 to 112 centimetres (3.4 to 3.7 feet) at the shoulder and weigh only about 68\u00a0kilograms (150 pounds).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Habitat<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Argali predominately inhabits high plateaus, rolling hills, and relatively gentle mountain slopes, at elevations from 3,000 to 5,000 metres\u00a0(10,000 to 16,500 feet). The Tibetan Argali is found throughout the Tibetan Plateau, including regions of Nepal and Sikkim and Ladakh in\u00a0India that are close to the Tibetan border. In the winter, the Argali tends to migrate to lower elevations or to less snowy areas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eating Habits<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Argali forages on grasses, herbs, sedges, and shrubs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behaviour and Reproduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Argali usually forms small herds, of 2 to 15 sheep, but groups as large as 50 have been spotted. Adult rams tend to commingle with\u00a0females only during the rut season. During the rest of the year, they live in separate all-male herds. The Argali\u2019s primary vocalizations are an alarm\u00a0whistle and a warning hiss, which the sheep produces by blowing air through its nostrils.<\/p>\n

Female argalis reach sexual maturity at two years of age, while males reach sexual maturity at five years of age. The rut occurs between November\u00a0<\/span>and January. During the rut, competing rams fight by rearing up on their hind legs, leaning forward, and racing towards each other, crashing\u00a0horns upon impact. The Tibetan Argali\u2019s gestation period is 150 to 160 days long. Pregnant females separate from the herd and retreat to\u00a0protected areas. Births take place in late May and early June. Each mother gives birth to one lamb, or, very rarely, to twins. The mother and her\u00a0newborn lamb remain separated from the herd for several days, during which the mother takes brief forays to graze, while the newborn mostly\u00a0lays motionless.<\/p>\n

The Tibetan Argali rarely lives beyond 9 years of age. The Argali evades its predators, which include wolves and snow leopards, by fleeing or by\u00a0taking refuge on steep mountain slopes. The Tibetan Argali is a relatively fast runner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Present Status<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Argali is categorized as Vulnerable in the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is listed under Appendix I of CITES. The\u00a0Tibetan Argali is under second class protection in China. and is included in Schedule I, Part I of the Indian (Wildlife) Protection Act, 1972. In\u00a01998, noted zoologist Schaller estimated that the total population size of the Tibetan Argali could be as low as 7,000. The Tibetan Argali\u2019s\u00a0population is fragmented and is declining.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Threats to Survival<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Argali was traditionally hunted for food on a subsistence basis, but has been increasingly hunted for its horns. The horns are of\u00a0value to trophy hunters and may also be used in traditional Chinese medicine. Another serious threat to the Argali\u2019s survival are the increasingly\u00a0large livestock populations encroaching upon large sections of the Argali\u2019s habitat range. Argalis in these regions are forced to compete with\u00a0livestock for habitat, forage, minerals, and water.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Caprinae Specialist Group, 1996: Ovis ammon. In: IUCN, 2003: 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http:\/\/www.redlist.org, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

Sathyakumar, S. and Bhatnagar, Y.V., \u201cMountain Ungulates,\u201d Wildlife and Protected Areas, Vol. 1, No. 1, Dec 2002, http:\/\/www.wii.gov.in\/<\/p>\n

envis\/ungulates\/chapter2.htm, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

Schaller, George B., 1998: Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, The University of Chicago Press, London, 80pp.<\/p>\n

By: Environment and Development Desk, DIIR, CTA.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ovis ammon hodgsoni Physical Description The Argali, or the Asian Wild Sheep, is the largest species of wild sheep in the world. The Tibetan Argali is one of the eight recognized subspecies\u00a0of the Argali. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mammals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214\/revisions\/218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}