406 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 



Head of Shapo or Ladak Urial. 



URIAL or SHAPO (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 grey 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. 

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

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

 shapo of Ladak (O. vignei typica). Second, the Kelat urial (O. 

 vignei blanfordi] of Kelat, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan, and the 

 Trans-Indus districts, in which the points of the horns tend to turn 

 up, and the front angles may be knotted. Third, the Punjab urial 

 (O. vignei cycloceros) of the Cis- Indus Punjab, in which the colour 

 is redder, the ruff much developed, and the horns form a close- 

 coiled spiral. Fourth, the Kopet Dagh Urial (O. v. arkal\ in 

 which the front of the horns is much flattened, with the two angles 

 very pronounced. 



