38o 



RECORDS OF BIG GAME 



Head of .Male Shapu. 



SHAPU or URIAL (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 white 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 lbs. 



Distribution. — From Ladak and Zanskar to Russian Turkestan, 

 Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Southern Persia, the North-West Frontier 

 of India, and the Punjab Salt-Range. Two local races, which 

 probably intergrade in the Indus valley, may be recognised. 

 First, the typical urin of Astor, the sha or shapu of Ladak (C. 

 vignei typicd) ; and secondly, the smaller Punjab urial {0. vignei), 

 in which the colour is redder, the ruff more developed, and the 

 front angles of the horns often show a knotted keel. There is 

 also O. vignei blanfordi of Baluchistan ; and it is possible the 

 Persian form, in which the ruff is said to be but little developed, 

 may form a fourth. 



