Pseudois schaeferi

IUCN

Alias：Dwarf blue sheep

Basic Information

Scientific classification

name：Pseudois schaeferi
Aliases：Dwarf blue sheep
Outline：Ungulata
Family：Mammalia Artiodactyla Bovidae Pseudois

Vital signs

length：109~160 cm
Weight：28~65kg
lifetime：

Feature

The body is brownish grey with a silvery sheen, generally darker than the blue sheep.

Details

The blue sheep inhabits steep rocky slopes at an altitude of 2,700 to 3,200 meters, occasionally entering coniferous forests and forest open areas. The blue sheep may inhabit higher altitudes in the same area. Food includes grasses, low shrubs, lycopods and lichens, and they alternate between eating and resting on grassy slopes throughout the day. In the past, they formed groups of 10 to 36, but now there are usually less than 15 due to excessive hunting. Male sheep sometimes form groups of only males, and sometimes mixed groups with female sheep and young sheep. The gestation period is about 160 days, and the calving period is in May or June. There is one baby per litter (rarely twins). The baby is weaned within 6 months and matures at 1.5 years old. It may take 7 years for the male sheep to reach its maximum size.

Conservation status: The population has declined sharply as a result of hunting. The herd size has dropped from 10-36 individuals to 3-8 individuals in 1990. It is protected by local ethnic minorities in the religious area of Baiyu, Sichuan. China RL—CR B1ab (i, ii, iii, v), China Key List—II, IUCN RL—EN A2d, B1+2e ver2.3 (1994).

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Location

Confined to a narrow area: along the Jinsha River valley in the upper Yangtze River, in Batang and Baiyu counties in Sichuan, and across the Lancang River in Maerkang County, and in a small area in eastern Tibet. Probably also found in southwestern Sichuan (Derong County) and Yunnan (Deqin County). Endemic to China.

Form

Head and body length 109~160 cm, shoulder height 50~80 cm, tail length 7~12 cm, total skull length 208~247, weight 28~65 kg (male), 17~40 kg (female). Similar to the blue sheep, it was previously considered a subspecies of the blue sheep, but is generally smaller than the blue sheep, with a light brown body color and a silvery sheen, and thinner and less curly horns.