Local name: Rusch (Wakhi: Northern Hunza)
Description and Biology:
Size:Shoulder Height: 110-122cm / 43.5-48in.
Weight: 113.5-140kg / 250-308lb.
Description: Within Pakistan territory only the Marcopolo subspecies of the Argali occurs. It is recognized by the very long outward curving horns, developed in the mature males. An aged ram is surely one of the most impressive representatives of the entire order Artiodactyla, being not only the bearer of massive spiralling horns which can span a man’s outstretched arms, but also being almost twice the height and size of most other wild or domestic sheep.
In summer the hair on the body is short and coarse and of a sandy-reddish colour with the face and breast having an admixture of grey and white hairs. The legs and belly are creamy-white without any darker pattern on the frontal part of the shin such as is found in the goats or the Bharal. In winter, because of thicker underwool, the animal looks bulkier and slightly greyer, with much white about the neck and chest in old rams. Not surprisingly, the neck in rams tends to be heaver and muscular. The tail is short and not bushy and in both sexes the legs appear relatively long and slender when compared with the wild goats. There is more extensive white area in the caudal region as compared to the Urial. There is no long-haired chest ruff in the rams as in various races of Urial.In a mature ram, the horns curve outwards describing more than a complete arc, their distal quarter or third, forming another turn. They are broad and massive at their base. In 1967 a 137cm(54in) had was shot in Pakistan by Captain Gauhar Ayub on the Khunjerab Pass in Hunza.
Reproduction: Gestation Period: 5.5 months. Young per Birth: Single or occasional twin lambs being born in May and June. Rut: The rut is well marked and of short duration as in all wild sheep. The rut takes place later in November and even extending to early December. Life Span: around 13 years.
Social Behavior: This is a gregarious species, generally congregating in herds of a dozen up to over a hundred individuals. These herds consist of females with their sub-adult young and immature males. Outside the rutting season mature rams live in small bands of two or three, rarely up to five or six occurring together. They confine their feeding activity to a few hours just after dawn and again become active in the evening. During the middle of the day they retreat to some higher boulder-strewn ridge where they lie down and chew the cud. They have etremely keen eyesight and sense of smell and are always very wary and difficult to approach. When danger threatens flocks tend to bunch together, and both sexes have been observed to stamp their feet and after running some distance away to again stop and turn to face the danger. Apart from the grunting call emitted by rams in combat, lambs also call their mothers with a typically “merrhing” call when they lose contact.
Diet: They graze mainly on the scattered bunches of coarse grass. In the northern part of Hunza in winter they feed on the scattered clumps of wild onions. (all above information from ” The Mammals of Pakistan” by T.J Roberts).
Habitat and Distribution:
The Marco Polo sheep is an inhabitant of very high mountain plateau regions subject to severly cold winds and rather arid climatic conditions throughout the year. Currently, Marco Polo sheep has a very limited spatial and temporal distribution in Pakistan. It is confined to probably at most, three remnant populations in the northwestern part of Hunza district along the Chinese border. Here, between spring and autumn, it occupies two sperate valleys in the noethwest section of Khunjerab National Park, and also inhabits the Kilik-Mintaka border area, just west of the National Park. Schaller et al. (1987) found no sign of this argali on the Chinese side of Khunjerab pass , and suggested that the population of the Khunjerab area was isolated.Rasool gives a population number of 300 for Khunjerab NP in 1976, and between July 1978 and March 1981, his estimates of monthly population numbers vary between zero and 160. Numbers in Khunjerab NP are reported to have been declining rapidly over the last 10 years, with only 20 reported in 1988. However , no animals were observed in the Park after the 1988 sighting until a herd of 45 was seen in July 1991. In 1992, locals reported that between six and 60 argali may use Khunjerab NP in winter. The size of the population in the Kilik-Mintaka area is not know because locals had prohibited wildlife officials from entering the area, but reports in 1991 indicate all animals may have been shot.
Construction and opening of the Karakoram Highway has been a major factor in the rise of poaching for this argali. Competition for forage, created by the presence of an estimated 700 feral yaks and at least 3,000 domestic goats and sheep in the Karchanai Nullah of Khunjerab NP, is an increasing problem that local park officials are unable to deal with. Marco Polo sheep is probably the most endangered of Pakistan’s wild sheep and goats, and unless action is taken immediately they will probably become extinct. (all above information from Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Caprinae “Wild Sheep and Goats and their Relatives”, IUCN/SSC 1997)