bharal

English

a bharal (Pseudois nayaur)

Etymology

From Hindi भड़ल (bhaṛal).

Noun

bharal (plural bharals or bharal)

1. A blue sheep, being any species of the genus Pseudois, goatlike bovids of the Himalayas and western China with a bluish-grey coat; Himalayan blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur).
   • 1955, The Alpine Journal, volume 60, page 262:

     On the way we disturbed the peace of three bharals and the female of a snow-cock ; the latter, with her brood hardly a week old, rose almost from my feet as I clambered round a rock tower.

   • 1993, Sharad Singh Negi, Kumaun: The Land and the People‎^[1], page 106:

     In appearance, the bharal resembles both a sheep and a goat. Its horns are smooth, rounded and form a curve backwards over the neck. The fur is brownish grey in colour which attains a slaty grey hue in winter and becomes browner in summer. In Kumaun the bharal is found in the desolate tracts of northern Pithoragarh, usually on the slopes of the main Himalayan range where it lives between the timberline and the snowline.

   • 1997, A. David, Shivakumar, Animal World, page 52,

     The bharal or the Blue Sheep also is a Tibetan animal found in Ladakh, Sikkim and Nepal. It is about 90 cm. high. The bharal is brownish-grey in colour, tinted with slaty-blue, more brown in summer and more slaty-blue in winter.

   • 2013, Q. Ashton Acton (general editor), Advances in Conservation Research and Application, 2013 Edition, page 142,

     Among the wild prey, bharal (blue sheep/naur) Pseudois nayaur was by far the most common species (92%).

Usage notes

The genus Pseudois is sometimes considered to be monotypic with P. nayaur (and subspecies).

Synonyms

• (any species of Pseudois): blue sheep
• (Pseudois nayaur): Himalayan blue sheep, naur

References

• “bharal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Italian

Noun

bharal m (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of baral