Pseudois nayaur

Blue Sheep, also known as Blue Sheep in English, has two subspecies. Its shape is between sheep and goats, and its appearance does have some characteristics of both types of sheep. In terms of body shape, Blue Sheep is very similar to sheep, but its horns are not spiraled, but similar to those of goats, but the male has no beard on the lower jaw and no smell of mutton.

When the blue sheep lies on the grass, the color of its body is extremely difficult to distinguish from the exposed rocks on the grass, so it has a protective effect. Although it often appears in relatively open places, its ability to climb mountains is unparalleled among animals. When frightened, it can quickly jump between rocks and climb steep cliffs. But it also has a fatal weakness. After escaping to the ridge, it always looks back before running away, and often dies at this time. It has a migratory habit. It lives at an altitude of about 2,400 meters in winter and often lives between 3,500 and 6,000 meters in spring and summer. It does not descend to places below the forest line in winter and summer. It likes to live in groups, often more than ten or dozens of them live together, and sometimes they can form a large group of hundreds. The members of the group are very attached. If a member unfortunately dies, other members often surround the corpse to prevent vultures and other scavengers from taking it away. In summer, five or six males sometimes live together on the highest peaks, and only come down to join the large group to live together during the estrus period in autumn. Sometimes, mountain goats and northern goats will live in the same place, but they do not mix groups and do not conflict.

The blue sheep mainly feed on alpine desert plants such as wormwood, moss, and needlegrass, and branches and leaves of shrubs such as rhododendron, spiraea, and fruticosa. The feeding time is not very fixed, and they often eat and rest during the day.

The blue sheep estrus and mate from December to January of the following year. The competition between males is similar to that of other sheep, but not as fierce as other sheep. The gestation period of females is 5-6 months, and they give birth in June and July, with one lamb per litter. The lambs grow quickly and can climb on rocks 10 days after birth, and can be weaned after 3 months. Horns begin to grow after half a year, and they are sexually mature at 1.5-2 years old. Blue sheep are relatively easy to breed in zoos. The mating season is in late autumn and early winter. After pregnancy, the male sheep will be separated to avoid chasing the female animal and causing miscarriage. If it is the first time to give birth, it is not good at breastfeeding, and it can be assisted by sucking milk.

The main factor affecting the population growth of the blue sheep is widespread and arbitrary hunting. From 1958 to 1989, 100,000 to 200,000 kg of blue sheep meat was exported from Qinghai to Germany and other places every year. That is, about 5,000 to 10,000 blue sheep were killed every year. This data does not include the number killed by local hunters. The main natural enemies are snow leopards, jackals, wolves, and large birds of prey such as vultures and golden eagles.

Listed in the 2012 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1-Low Risk (LC).

Listed in the second level of China's national key protected wildlife list.

Protect wildlife and eliminate game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!

Distributed in China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, western Sichuan, northern Yunnan, western Inner Mongolia, Gansu, northern Ningxia, southern Xinjiang, Shaanxi, and neighboring Nepal, Sikkim, and Kashmir.
It inhabits high mountain bare rock areas between 2100 and 6300 meters above sea level. The altitude varies in different regions, but it is not found in forests and bushes. It has strong cold resistance.

It is of medium size, with a body length of 120-140 cm, a tail length of 13-20 cm, a shoulder height of 70-90 cm, and a weight of 60-75 kg. The head is long and narrow, with short ears. The whole body is blue-gray, with the muzzle and face mixed with grayish white and black, and the chest is dark brown, extending downward to the front of the forelimbs, turning into obvious black stripes, and reaching the hoof. The abdomen and the inner side of the limbs are white or yellow-white. There is a clear black stripe on the lower edge of the body side, starting from the armpit, through the waist and the tricholoma, and all the way to the front hoof of the hind limbs. The bottom of the buttocks and the tail is white, and the two-thirds of the back end of the tail is black. The body hair in winter is longer and lighter than in summer. There are black stripes on the front edges of the limbs of males, but not in females.
Both males and females have horns, but the females' horns are very sh