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Introduction
'There are great quantities of wild sheep of huge size. Their horns grow to as much as six palms in length.' Marco Polo, 1273
The Pamir Mountains with their wide valleys and rugged ranges at elevations of 3,500-5,200 m and above lie principally in Tajikistan but also extend into China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kyrgystan. The symbol of these uplands is the Marco Polo sheep Ovis ammon polii, a subspecies of argali whose long, winding horns first intrigued Marco Polo and in the 1800s became a coveted trophy of foreign hunters, a status the animal still retains today. The subspecies is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2007). After visiting Marco Polo sheep habitat in Pakistan in 1974 and China in 1986, Schaller (1977) and Schaller et al. (1987) noted that the species' numbers had decreased greatly because of uncontrolled hunting. According to informants the sheep were suffering a similar fate in neighbouring countries but the political situations made field work difficult there during this time. Later, GBS conducted surveys in Tajikistan during June-July 2003 and February-March 2005, and in Afghanistan during August-October 2004. Here we summarize these findings and in particular describe our renewed research in China during October-November 2005 and May 2006. We have not been to Kyrgystan but Fedosenko (2000) provides information. A brief discussion of the status of O. a. polii in countries adjoining China is relevant because animals move back and forth across international borders, and conservation can be achieved only if the region as a whole is considered.
Study area
The Pamirs extend <50 km into the south-west corner of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China where the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Kunlun ranges meet. Unlike the ibex Capra ibex sibirica that favours terrain on or near cliffs, Marco Polo sheep prefer rolling hills, broad valleys, and gradual mountain sides, a limited habitat in this part of Xinjiang. The Karakoram highway runs south from the city of Kashi (Kashgar) up the Taxkorgan (Taghdumbash) Valley through the middle of O. a. polii terrain, past the peak Mustag Ata (7,546 m) and over the Khunjerab Pass (4,650 m) into Pakistan. The southern part of this route lies in the Taxkorgan Nature Reserve (15,863 km2)....