Ovis bochariensis Nasonov 1914
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Bovidae
Ovis
Ovis bochariensis

description: 193.
Bukhara Unial
Ovis bochariensis
French: Mouflon de Boukhara / German: Tadschikistan-Wildschaf / Spanish: Urial de Bujaré
Taxonomy. Ouvis bochariensis Nasonov, 1914,
Russian Turkestan.
Urial taxonomy is controversial; formerly urial species: Ladakh (O. vignei), Punjab (O. punjabiensis), Bukhara, and Afghan (O. cycloceros) recognized here, were usually classified as subspecies of O. orientalis, or all as subspecies of O. vignei. (The name orientalis is based on a hybrid population in north-central Iran and is not usable.) This species is in need of distributional, anatomical, karyological, and molecular genetics studies to define its distribution and relationship to other urial species. Monotypic.
Distribution. NE Turkmenistan, S Uzbekistan along the border with Turkmenistan, S Tajikistan, and N Afghanistan.
Descriptive notes. Measurements and weights are not available, noris a clear description, but these are medium-sized sheep. Maximum skull length in males averages 24-6 cm and in females 22-4 cm. The general body coloris sandy-yellow or cinnamonyellow, sometimes paler in the summertime. Like the Ladakh Urial, the species it most resembles, males have a black neck ruff and a saddle patch. The horns grow upward and sideways from the skull and are crescent-shaped in a single plane or almost so. The outer rib is quite faint and transverse folds are small. Horn length up to 73 cm,rarely longer, and circumference of base averages 24-5 cm. Females invariably bear horns. Diploid chromosome numberis 58.
Habitat. Similar to Ladakh Urial, the Bukhara Urial occurs in mountainous terrain with associated rough, precipitous habitats at elevations of 1000-4500 m.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species. On the whole, no less than 180 plant species are known to be eaten by mountain sheep within the former Soviet Union, but a thorough study of their food in different regions has not been conducted.
Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but it probably mates in November—-December and young are born 150-160 days later in May and June.
Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but in summer, especially if the weather is warm, wild sheep are most active in the early morning and twilight hours.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information available for this species, but for much of the year, except for occasional shifting between summer and winter ranges, which occurs in autumn and spring, most sheep do not undertake long distance movements.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II (under O. vignei). Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red Book (as O. orientalis bochariensis). This is the scarcest urial; probably fewer than 200 remain. It has been extirpated over most of its historical distribution and now occurs in isolated populations. Major threats include illegal hunting, habitat degradation, and habitat destruction due to agricultural development and livestock competition. There is an urgent need to create reserves where it can be protected and to reestablish populations where it has been extirpated.
Bibliography. Baskin & Danell (2003), Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1966), Groves & Grubb (2011), Grubb (2005), Valdez (2008), Weinberg et al. (1997).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, pp. 444-779 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 685-686, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6512484