388 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 



Head of Male Shapu. 



SHAPU or UEIAL (Ovis vignei). 



A much smaller sheep than either of the Asiatic argalis, with com- 

 paratively slender and well - wrinkled horns of considerable length, 

 which when fully developed curve forwards along the sides of the face ; 

 the males with a more or less strongly developed whitish ruff on the 

 throat. General colour varying from rufous brown to gray in summer, 

 with the chest, under-parts, and portions of the legs white, and some- 

 times blackish "points." Females with small horns. Height at 

 shoulder about 32 inches ; weight about 120 Ibs. 



Distribution. From Ladak and Zanskar to Russian Turkestan, 

 Afghanistan, part of the Caucasus, Baluchistan, Southern Persia, the 

 North-West Frontier of India, and the Punjab Salt- Range. Several 

 local races, two of which probably intergrade in the Indus valley, 

 are recognised. First, the typical urin of Astor, the sha or shapu 

 of Ladak (O. vignei typica) ; secondly, the smaller urial (0. vignei 

 cycloceros} of the Punjab, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan, in which 

 the colour is redder, the ruff more developed, and the front angles 

 of the horns often show a knotted keel ; and thirdly, the Kopet 

 Dagh Urial (O. v. arkal}. It is possible the Persian form, in 

 which the ruff is said to be but little developed, may form a fourth 

 race. 



