Turkmen sheep: description of the rock and habitat, lifestyle and diet

Mountain Turkmen ram is also called Ustyurt and Kopetdag. The species is divided into three groups according to the distribution area: Kazakhstan (the most numerous), Turkmen and Karakalpak (almost completely disappeared). The species was discovered in the 1830s, described in the 1850s, and already in the second half of the 20th century mountain sheep were on the verge of extinction due to poachers and vigorous economic activity in their habitats.

Appearance

Inhabitants of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan call the mountain sheep "arkar". A rare species in the course of the study was classified either as a mouflon (an Asian genus of sheep), or as a urial (Ustyurt mountain sheep).From here came various names of the species: "Ustyurt mouflon", "Ustyurt mountain sheep", "Trans-Caspian urial". But a study of the genotype conducted by the Kazakhs in the 1990s confirmed that the Turkmen species belongs to the urials.

Turkmen sheep are beautiful and stately. Description of the species is given in the table.

Color Horns males exceed 90 cm in length, hollow, spirally twisted, females are small, arcuately curved decorated with a "collar" in the form of a long (from 30 cm), wool hanging almost to the ground, white from chin to sternum, black closer to the stomach

reddish in summer, becoming red-yellow in winter
	Chest in males

Habitat

Turkmenian mountain sheep - endemic to the watershed of the Aral and Caspian seas. The main habitats are the harsh steppe, semi-desert and desert areas of Turkmenistan, Ustyurt, Mangyshlak, Iran, Afghanistan, the eastern Caspian coast.

Turkmen sheep, unlike other mountain relatives, do not climb above 500 m above the sea. They prefer to stay on steep slopes, hard-to-reach ledges, low rocky remnants.

Mountain sheep are distinguished by agility and mobility. Able to climb almost steep slopes, jump down from ledges, jump to a height of up to 1 m.

Lifestyle and behavior

The Turkmen species belongs to semi-sedentary species. It roams regularly, but not for long distances. During the summer season, the animals graze from dawn to midday heat, then hide in the shade of the gorges. In the afternoon they leave the shelter, again go to the pasture. During the winter months, rams are active all day long.

Turkmen arkars are herd animals. The herd keeps all year round, in summer there are fewer individuals in it, in winter more. The more prosperous the existence of the herd, the larger it is.On average, it consists of 5 heads, but, depending on the conditions of existence, the number can vary from 2 to 70 individuals.

Under natural conditions, Turkmen urials to some extent show territoriality, especially if the summer is hot, the number of watering places is reduced. Each herd feeds in a certain area, which includes several pastures, shelters and a watering place. The movement of the herd within its territory is led by the leader - the strongest male or the oldest female. Animals move strictly along routes, as a result, over the years, the area has been covered with a network of sheep trails.

What do they eat?

The food of Turkmen sheep is diverse, including more than 80 species of desert and semi-desert plants.

The diet changes seasonally, the richest becomes in the spring-summer period:

spring and summer - cereal grasses (bluegrass, feather grass), sedge;
autumn and winter - astragalus, wormwood, s altwort.

Sometimes rams eat leaves of caragana (yellow acacia), ephedra, spur.

The herd goes to the watering hole from the middle of summer until the snow falls. In winter, sheep get enough moisture by eating snow along with herbs. In spring, animals receive a significant percentage of moisture by eating s altwort, the shoots of which remain juicy until mid-summer. Turkmen urials prefer fresh or slightly s alty water.

Natural enemies

Single individuals survive to old age. Almost all sheep sooner or later become the prey of predators. Natural enemies of the Turkmen arkar:

The wolf is the main enemy of the species. Mortality of rams from wolf fangs in some years in the west of Ustyurt reached 70%.
Caracal and golden eagle are medium-sized predators that prey on newborn lambs that they can carry away. Adults are not afraid.
Cheetah. Now the population of this predator in the region has died out. But earlier the animal hunted goitered gazelles, saigas, and to a lesser extent mountain sheep.

The main enemy of the Turkmen sheep is not a predatory animal, but a man. Poaching has brought the species to the brink of extinction.

Reproduction and offspring

Mountain sheep reach sexual maturity by 2.5 years of age. At this age, females are already ready to mate, and males mature up to 4-6 years to become able to resist rivals. But if the population is significantly reduced, the herd becomes small, then young males begin to participate in the battles for females and leadership in the group, although their inexperience negatively affects the fate of the offspring.

On average, 70% of lambs die before reaching a year old. And in herds led by young inexperienced males, this sad figure rises to 100%. The rut starts in October and lasts until December. There are, on average, 2.5 females per male. After the rut, the males leave the herd for the winter and feed separately.

Lambing occurs from late March to early May. The female leaves the herd, goes to give birth in a hard-to-reach, heavily cut gorge or on a terrace of the middle tier. Gives birth to 1 or 2 babies.

Population status and species protection

As an endemic of the Caspian and Aral watersheds, the Turkmen mountain sheep needs strict protection. The ecological balance of its habitats is also in danger. The species is included in the Red Data Books of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Appendix II of the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Wild Species of Fauna and Flora.Reasons for the decline in the number of Turkmen Arkar:

weak oversight of hunting activities;
poaching;
habitat destruction from agricultural and industrial development;
changing climatic conditions, more frequent droughts, reduction of fodder vegetation.

Turkmen sheep lambs were born in 1978 in Kharkov and Ashgabat zoos, and in 1990 in Alma-Ata.

In the mountains of Ustyurt and Mangyshlak, the number of the species has significantly decreased, and in the territory of Karatau and Aktau, the Turkmen ram has disappeared. If in the 1960s there were 5-7 thousand individuals on the territory of Kazakhstan, then since the 2000s the population has been less than 2 thousand heads.

The Turkmen mountain sheep is protected in the Ustyurt National Reserve, Aktau-Buzachinsk and Karagiye-Karakol nature reserves. 30% of the Kazakh livestock lives here.