Tien Shan Argali
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Artiodactyla |
| Family | Bovidae |
| Subfamily | Caprinae |
| Genus | Ovis |
| Species | Ovis ammon |
| Subspecies | Ovis ammon karelini |
| Species synonyms | – |
| taxonomy: Smithsonian Institution |
The wild sheep is an ancestor of our domesticated sheep. The wild sheep can be found in mountain areas on the northern hemisphere. It is not totally sure how many different wild sheep species exist in the wild. Some scientists claim that there are only two. One in America and Northeast Siberia called the ovis canadensis and another type in the rest of the world called ovis ammon. The second group of scientists believe there are six groups where the ovis ammon is the Argali which can be found in Asia.
The Argali, as all wild sheeps lives in groups in the mountains. When looking close you can distinguish several sub-species where the Altai Argali (ovis ammon ammon) is the largest sheep in the world. The Tien Shan Argali (ovis ammon karelini) is distributed on the northern flanks of the Tien Shan mountain range in northeast Kirgizstan and southeast Kazakhstan. You can spot the Argali easiest in winter time when the animals come down from the high mountains to search for food.
The total Tien Shan Argali population is estimated to be about 2000 of which 50 (Lina Valdshmit, 2004) live in the Aksu-Djabagly nature reserve. Numbers are declining mainly because of poaching. In the 1950s the population in the Aksu-Djabagly nature reserve alone was estimated at 670 sheep.
These animals have a weight between 65 and 180 kilogram and eat grass, herbs and sedges. The body length is between 120 and 200 cm and the tail adds 14 cm to this. Shoulder height is between 90 and 120 cm. Most of the time you will find them on alpine pastures and open spots in light bushes.
During the rutting-season, female and male animals live together in one group, but outside this period the herds are separated by sex. In general herds can have sizes between 2 and 100 animals, but in the Aksu-Djabagly nature reserve herd sizes vary between 5 and 15 animals.
| Literature |
| - | Wild sheep and Goats and their Relatives. Status survey and Conservation Action plan for Caprinae.
IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group. | David M. Shackleton |
| 2001 | Population status and taxonomic problems for Caprinae in Western Tien Shan and Kizil-Kum Desert. November 2001, Caprinae - Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group | Vladimir Shakula |
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All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher.
AMBROSE BIERCE
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