The urial, also known as the shapo, is a species ( Ovis Vignei) of the wild sheep. The urial inhabits western central Asia from the northeast of Iran and the west of Kazakhstan to Balochistan in Pakistan and the Ladakh regions in North India. Urial sheep found in Laddhak, India is a subspecies ( Ovis Vignei Vignei) and are primarily diurnal and forage for most of the day. They move within a range, but they do not maintain territories. Studies show that a healthy snow leopard population is closely linked to healthy populations of wild ungulates, like the Ibex, Urial, Blue sheep and Argali. In this image, one can see two males headbang while a female stands next to them.
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Although the story I was working on was about Snow leopards, but it couldn't have been done without focusing on its prey species, like Ibex and Urial. Over the years, along with my friend/collaborator @munibkhanyari , we have spent a lot of time with incredible mountain goats, and Munib's obsession with these mountain species has also percolated in me. I watched these goats rest, eat, fight, and run on these deadly cliffs escaping Snow leopards. We also joked that these goats are the real 'Free Solo' and should be featured in Jimmy chin's next film.
@insidenatgeo@natgeo@snowleopardtrust@ncf.india#India#Himalayas#wildlife#photography#storytelling#naturalhistory#bigcat#snowleopard#laddhak
A cheetah on the look out with her 4 cubs just before Crocodile Bridge. Kruger was amazing! Spent 3 incredible days with @bbbrex@jonny_pickup and @jamesnorbury_ patrolling the park every minute it was open on little sleep. We got so lucky. We saw all the big cats and a whole range of beautiful animals I never expected to see in the wild. I can't describe how impressive and powerful they are, it's mad. You have to make the trip out! Massive thanks to @TheSteadicamMan for hooking me up with a telephoto lens for the trip. 🙌🏻 I've arrived in the Seychelles now with B and internet is pretty limited but I'll try to upload a few more bits over the next week, standby for turning my page into a wildlife photography look book! #krugernationalpark@krugernationalpark#cheetah#cheetahcubs#kruger#wildlifephotography#southafrica#savannah#bigcat