Location
Kerman Province of Iran, in the Kabr-va-Rouchon Wildlife Refuge and eastward and southward.
Description
The winter coat is darker than that of the Laristan mouflon, and there is a white saddle patch, but no bib. A black neck ruff is present, extending the full length of the neck in some animals but limited to just the lower half in others. The horns are homonymous, but as a general rule they sweep downward and then curve back up.
Remarks
GSCO consider the Kerman sheep to be a distinct, naturally-occurring subspecies. This is at least for sure concerning those found in the mountains around the city of Yazd and southeast, through the mountains that extend to south of the city of Kerman. However, there are corridors where influence from SIX other trophy types could have affected the development of the Kerman sheep (1. Transcaspian urial 2. Afghan urial 3. Blanford urial 4. Laristan mouflon 5. Shiraz mouflon 6. Esfahan mouflon). There is a mountain corridor where the TCU could have made its way southeast toward Yazd. There are a few miles of low desert along this corridor, but nothing formidable enough to keep a determined wanderer away. There is an even better corridor where the Afghan urial could have made its way west. However, the Transcaspian and the Afghans would have faced fairly difficult going, so might have influenced the Kerman sheep less than the other four trophy types. From the traditional Blanford urial area there is a corridor that runs northwest from the Blanford urial haunts of extreme southeastern Iran. This corridor is continuous, with few problems for migration over the years. The formidable problem to inhibit the Blanfords’ migrations would have been distance. This could/would have been overcome, but over a long span of time. The Laristan mouflons’ influence would have probably been greater than the Blanford’s. Thgere are continuous mountains between the town of Lar and the city of Kerman. There would have been relatively easy movement corridors for the Laristan’s contribution to the development of the Kerman sheep. The last two trophy types are the Shiraz and Esfahan mouflons. Both of these sheep are found west of the Kerman sheep. There is a fairly extensive desert valley separating both sheep from the Kerman. However, there is a distinct corridor northwest of the desert where the Esfahan sheep could/would have traveled to influence the development of the Kerman sheep over time. There is another corridor southwest of the desert for the Shiraz mouflon to have done the same.
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