DUSHANBE, January 26, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Specialists from international organization, Safari Club International (SCI), jointly with Tajik researchers are conducting a survey of the population of Marco Polo sheep in Gorno Badakhshan, the deputy head of the Committee for Environmental Protection, Khursand Davlatov, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, an appropriate agreement with SCI was signed in October 2009 and the survey was launched in early January and is expected to be finished by the end of this week.

It is to be noted that a decision to conduct this survey was made following the results of the survey of the population of Marco Polo sheep that was conducted last April under financial support of GTZ Tajikistan.

“The 2010 survey has shown that there are 23,700 Marco Polo sheep in Gorno Badakhshan, but many Tajik researchers question the results,” Davlatov said.

Representatives from the Committee for Environmental Protection say the previous survey of the population of Marco Polo sheep was conducted in 2003 and the population of Marco Polo sheep in 2003 was estimated at 12,000.

According to official figures, there were some 8,000-10,000 Marco Polo sheep in Gorno Badakhshan in 2001.  Marco Polo sheep has entered Red Book as endangered species.

We will recall that a two-year moratorium on hunting Marco Polo sheep introduced in Tajikistan on January 1, 2009 was lifted ahead of schedule in September 2010.

In the 1980s, some 60,000 Marco Polo sheep reportedly lived in the high mountains of Gorno Badakhshan.

The Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii) is a subspecies of argali sheep, named after Marco Polo. Their habitat is the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Marco Polo sheep are distinguishable mostly by their large size and spiraling horns. Their conservation status is "near threatened" and efforts have been made to protect their numbers and keep them from commercial hunting. It has also been suggested that crossing them with domestic sheep could have agricultural benefits.