Species Use Database

Blue sheep, Baharal
Pseudois nayaur

Used for Collection/display in Nepal

A. Species

Scientific name: Pseudois nayaur

Common name(s): Blue sheep, Baharal

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Nepal

Country/Region: Nepal / Himalayas


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Individual Site

Name/Details of location: Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR)


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2007

End Year: 2012


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Collection/display

Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, National / local government and International external


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study based population trend assessments on records and reports of the DHR office and the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), Nepal.

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Although numbers of blue sheep are increasing, the authors express concern that trophy hunting males is driving an unsustainable sex ratio skew toward females in this population. Male-focused trophy hunting as practiced in DHR may not be an ecologically sustainable practice, because its effect on the sex ratio that lead to negative consequences for the genetic structure of the population in the long term

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: this study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Even though at the time of this study the trophy hunter fee was in the region of $867-2000, and 25 were hunted in 2011/12, and even though numbers are increasing, the authors still express concern that the population will not ultimately continue to support this strongly male=biased hunting pressure.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: this study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Even though at the time of this study the trophy hunter fee was in the region of $867-2000, and 25 were hunted in 2011/12, and even though numbers are increasing, the authors still express concern that the population will not ultimately continue to support this strongly male=biased hunting pressure.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Details of assessment carried out: study does not record this

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: study does not record this

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Details of assessment carried out: study does not record this

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: study does not record this


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

Further studies on the carrying capacity and sex ratio skew of populations in the DHR and interactions among bharal, tahr and their predators are necessary in order to design scientifically sound hunting quotas that are ecologically sustainable for bharal and tahr.


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Aryal, A., Dhakal, M., Panthi, S., Yadav, B.P., Shrestha, U.B., Bencini, R., Raubenheimer, D. and Ji, W., 2015. Is trophy hunting of bharal (blue sheep) and Himalayan tahr contributing to their conservation in Nepal?. Hystrix, 26(2).

Date of record entry: 2022-12-06


Records from the same source material: