Location
The Himalayan region of northeastern Pakistan, northwestern India, Nepal and Bhutan; scattered populations throughout Tibet; southern Xinjiang and western Qinghai (China); and extreme northwestern Yunnan (China) west of the Yangtze River. Boundaries with the Chinese blue sheep to the east are unclear. Hunting for this subspecies is limited to Nepal and Pakistan, as the other countries where it occurs do not allow it to be hunted at present.
Description
Body size is 10-20% larger than the Chinese blue sheep. Color is generally darker. It has a darker brown facial mask with black neck and chest, and a thicker black lateral band that almost joins the dark black chest patch. Horn length and circumference are 10-20% larger than the Chinese blue sheep, with the horns growing outward horizontally and downward.
Remarks
The blue sheep tends to run in herds of tens and up to 200 animals. The Himalayan blue sheep of Pakistan are hunted up to 15,000 feet, where the blue sheep in Nepal are hunted up to 16,500 feet. The hunting in Nepal is conducted solely in the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve of north central Nepal.
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