The Koryak Snow Sheep occurs north of Kamchatka. It is somewhat smaller than the Kamchatka race.

Names

English: Koryak Snow Sheep

German: Koriakisches Schneeschaf

French: Mouflon des neiges de Koryak

Spanish: Carnero de las nieves de Koryak

Taxonomy

O. n. koriakorum, Chernyavsky, 1962

Distribution

The Koryak Snow Sheep inhabits mountainous areas north of Kamchatka, north of the 60th parallel. The range includes all mountain systems east of the lower Penzhina River and north of the Anapka River all the way up to Cape Navarin at the southeastern end of the Gulf of Anadyr with the Anadyr River as northern range limit. Apparently the koriakorum range does not overlap with th snow sheep of central and southeastern Siberia. (1)

Population numbers

extrapolated from various sources, 1997-2010 (1):

O. n. koriakorum: 4.000-5.000

O. n. tschuktschorum: 1.500

Description

Zheleznov (1997) describes the Koryak Snow Sheep as „somewhat smaller than the Kamchatka race“ and the pelage color „an overall grayish-brown with flanks and belly turning lighter gray towards the underparts (1) – which does not help to distinguish it from other Snow Sheep subspecies.

As of February 2017 not a single photo of a live Koryak Snow Sheep was available.

Threats

not ascertainable

Ecotourism

presumably insignificant

Trophy hunting

Koryak Snow Sheep may legally be hunted on outfitted hunts with permits available from Kamchatka-based outfitters. Hunts usually start in Petropavlosk from where hunters travel north by commercial flights to transfer again by helicopter. Hunting is conducted on foot from base or spike camps. Hunting season lasts from August 1 to September 15. (1) Information on monitoring and/or management plans is not available.

Literature Cited

(1) Damm, Gerhard R. and Franco, Nicolás, 2014: The CIC Caprinae Atlas of the World – CIC International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, Budakeszi, Hungary in cooperation with Rowland Ward Publications RSA (Pty) Ltd., Johannesburg, South Africa.