Page 160 - Present Day Wildlife_Float

Wild goats are a number of agile mountain dwelling ruminants belonging to the genus Capra.
They share the genus with their descendent the domestic goat and two goat-like or goat-antelope spe-
cies. There are seven species, with several subspecies, of wild goat in the genus, most being Ibex, and
one, the Markhor, being the tallest of the wild goat species. Wild goats differ from wild mountainous
sheep or ovine (genus ovis), a species it often encounters in its wild alpine terrain. Wild goats have up-
ward and taller reaching or straight horns and most
– not all – have beards. Wild sheep have scent glands
on their face, wild goats do not, but they do have
more glands on their groin than sheep. They also
have hairless calluses on the knees of their forelegs; a
feature absent from wild sheep.

In terms of size and colour, wild goats differ. In
the Ibex species of the genus Capra, the largest is the
Siberian ibex, standing around 88 to 110 cm at the
shoulders and weighing around 60 to 130 kg, while
the smallest is the Nubian ibex at 65 to 75 cm tall at
the shoulders and around 52 to 74 kg in weight.
However, the tallest wild goat in the genus is Mar-
khor, standing at around 115 cm at the shoulders.
Colour also differs across the species and is usually
influenced by the environment the goat inhabits. The
Alpine ibex, for instance, inhabits the Alps of central
Genus: Capra Europe, and has predominantly brownish to grey fur,
Asian ibex or Siberian reflecting the damp and weathered rocky outcrops
ibex that litter its habitat, while the Sindh ibex reddish-buff summer coat reflects
Four subspecies the dry rocky terrain of the, Kirthar National Park, Pakistan. It’s the horns
C. s. sibirica however, that distinguish one species from another. The ibex, although they
C. s. alaiana may vary in size and thickness, have large semi-circular horns, while the
C. s. hagenbecki Markhor has large almost straight corkscrew horns. The East & west Cauca-
C. s. sakeen sian tur species in the genus, described as goat-like, have very thick low
Markhor growing horns more akin to the mountain sheep than those of the wild goat.
Five subspecies
C. f. falconeri Wild goats are dispersed across most mountainous regions and high
C. f. heptneri forested areas from central Europe through Asia, north-eastern Africa and
C. f. megaceros into northern China. Although many male wild goats are solitary, being herd
C. f. cashmiriensis animals, most congregate in large and small mixed groups at mating time, to
C. f. jerdoni socialise and to graze together. Their meetings are always in areas undis-
Domestic goat turbed by humans, usually in semi-desert foothills and inaccessible valleys.
Wild goat It is however, these animals fearless meandering across steep and precarious
Four subspecies mountainsides that capture the attention. They have an unmatched sense of
Bezoar ibex balance; they can leap nearly two metres up a vertical rock face from one
Sindh ibex seemingly precarious foothold to another, slide over 6 metres down a per-
Chiltan ibex pendicular rock face and land on all fours on the narrowest of ledges, and
Turkmen wild casually carry on walking and jumping from one ledge to another. All this is
goat done often hundreds of metres above ground.
East Caucasian tur
West Caucasian tur Wild goats are herbivores, grazing on grasses and various herbaceous
Alpine ibex plants. The precise nature of what grasses and plant material they eat, will of
Iberian ibex course, depend on the goat’s location. They are primarily grazers but when
Four subspecies food is scarce, in the dry season or during the winter months, they turn to
Capra pyrenaica hispan- browsing shrubs and bushes. Goats are not considered migratory, but when
ica food is scarce, goats will shift en masse from one location to another. Wild
Capra pyrenaica victori- goats are preyed on by wolves, bears and lynx. However, lacking the stomach
ae to venture out onto the high ledges these animals are a minor threat. The
†Capra pyrenaica lusi- same cannot be said of big cats like leopards and cheetahs. They will follow
tanica the goats, sometimes with disastrous consequences, when both the cat and a
†Capra pyrenaica pyre- captured struggling goat slip from the narrow ledge and fall to their deaths.
naica Predatory birds, like eagles, regularly prey on goats but concentrate on the
Nubian ibex juveniles, swooping down and snatching the young from the ledges
Walia ibex