A wild sheep or ram found in the Himalayas and Central Asia, with curved horns and a stocky build.
From Hindi or a Central Asian language, 'barhal' is the regional name for this mountain sheep species (Pseudois nayaur). The term entered English naturalist vocabulary during 19th-century exploration of the Himalayas.
The barhal is so specialized to extreme high-altitude living that it's virtually the only wild sheep that can survive the thinness of Himalayan air—and its name comes from the local languages of the regions where mountain climbers first encountered it.
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