An ibex (pl.: ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus Capra), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa.
An ibex (pl.: ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus Capra), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa.
The name ibex comes from Latin, borrowed from Iberian or Aquitanian, akin to Old Spanish bezerro, 'bull', modern Spanish becerro, 'yearling'. Ranging in height from 70 to 110 centimetres (27–43 in) and weighing 90 to 120 kilograms (200–270 lb) for males, ibex can live up to 20 years. Three closely related varieties of goats found in the wild are not usually called ibex: the markhor, western tur, and eastern tur.
A male ibex is referred to as a buck, a female is a doe, and young juveniles are called kids. [1] An ibex buck is commonly larger and heavier than a doe. The most noticeable difference between the sexes is the larger size of a buck's horns. The doe grows a pair of smaller, thinner horns which develop considerably more slowly than those of a buck. The ibex's horns appear at birth and continue to grow through the rest of its life.
Species of wild goats that are called ibex are:
Evidence of the ibex is widely present in the archaeological record, particularly in the Near East and Mediterranean regions. Ibex motifs are very common on cylinder seals and pottery, both painted and embossed. Excavations from Minoan Crete at Knossos, for example, have yielded specimens from c. 1800 BCE, including one cylinder seal depicting an ibex defending himself from a hunting dog. [6] From the similar age a gold jewelry ibex image was found at the Akrotiri archaeological site [7] on Santorini in present day Greece.
An Iron Age Capra ibex specimen was recovered at the Aq Kupruk Archaeological site in present day Afghanistan, illustrating either domestication or hunting of the ibex by these early peoples.[ clarification needed ]However, archaeological records of ibex can be difficult to separate from those of domestic goats. [8]
Earlier evidence of domestication or hunting of the ibex was found identified through DNA analysis of the contents of the stomach of Ötzi, the natural mummy of a Chalcolithic man discovered in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, who lived between 3400 and 3100 BCE. According to DNA reconstruction, the man's penultimate meal contained ibex. [9] There is a myth that says Ibex used to have wings in a time and they used to fly back in dates, by time their wings disappeared and they started climbing the mountain.[ citation needed ]
In Yemen, the ibex is a longstanding symbol of national identity, representing many positive attributes of the Yemeni people. Numbers of the animal – primarily the Nubian ibex – declined significantly from the late 20th century, due to hunting. In 2022, activists and intellectuals urged the declaration of an annual National Ibex Day, on 22 January, along with calls for greater protection of the animal. [10] [11]
Further Information: Nubian ibex § Cultural Significance and Human Exploitation
When firearms spread in the 15th century, the large population of ibex that spanned many of Europe's mountains decreased as they became easy targets for hunters. The ibex was often hunted for its meat, with other body parts used for medicine. The ibex horns were highly sought after as a remedy for impotence, while its blood was used for treating kidney stones.[ citation needed ]
The relentless hunting of the ibex might have led to its extinction were it not for the foresight of the dukes of Savoy. Charles-Felix, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia, banned the hunting of the ibex across his estates of the Gran Paradiso after being persuaded by a report on the animal's endangered state. The ban was implemented on 12 September 1821 and its law was soon extended to the rest of the kingdom. In 1856, Victor Emmanuel II, succeeding Charles-Felix as the king, inducted the Gran Paradiso as a protected hunting estate along with appointed gamekeepers to patrol the area. [12]
The Alpine ibex, also known as the steinbock, is a European species of goat that lives in the Alps. It is one of ten species in the genus Capra and its closest living relative is the Iberian ibex. The Alpine ibex is a sexually dimorphic species; males are larger and carry longer horns than females. Its coat is brownish-grey. Alpine ibexes tend to live in steep, rough terrain and open alpine meadows. They can be found at elevations as high as 3,300 m (10,800 ft) and their sharp hooves allow them to scale the steep slopes and cliffs of their mountainous habitat.
Capra is a genus of mammals, the goats, comprising ten species, including the markhor and several species known as ibexes. The domestic goat is a domesticated species derived from the bezoar ibex. It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal—according to archaeological evidence its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago.
The markhor is a large wild Capra (goat) species native to South Asia and Central Asia, mainly within Pakistan, the Karakoram range, parts of Afghanistan, and the Himalayas. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened since 2015.
The kri-kri, sometimes called the Cretan goat, Agrimi, or Cretan Ibex, is a feral goat inhabiting the Eastern Mediterranean, previously considered a subspecies of wild goat. The kri-kri today is found only in Greece: specifically on Crete and on three small islands off its coast ; as well as on the island of Sapientza off the southwestern coast of Peloponnese, where it was brought in great numbers in order to protect the species from extinction.
The wild goat is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by destruction and degradation of habitat.
The Iberian ibex, also known as the Spanish ibex, Spanish wild goat and Iberian wild goat, is a species of ibex endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. Four subspecies have been described; two are now extinct. The Portuguese ibex became extinct in 1892, and the Pyrenean ibex became extinct in 2000. A project to clone the Pyrenean ibex resulted in one clone being born alive in July 2003, making it the first taxon to become "un-extinct", although the clone died several minutes after birth due to physical defects in its lungs.
The West Caucasian tur is a mountain-dwelling goat-antelope native to the western half of the Caucasus Mountains range, in Georgia and European Russia. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the wild population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals.
The Nubian ibex is a desert-dwelling goat species found in mountainous areas of northern and northeast Africa, and the Middle East. It was historically considered to be a subspecies of the Alpine ibex, but is now considered a distinct species. The wild population is estimated at 4,500 mature individuals, and it is classified as vulnerable.
The Portuguese ibex is an extinct subspecies of Iberian ibex that inhabited the north mountainous zones of Portugal, Galicia, Asturias and western Cantabria. In size and colouration it was much like the Spanish animals, though inclining towards brown rather than black markings. Its horns were strikingly different from any of the other Iberian subspecies. They were only half the length of the Pyrenean ibex, but were almost twice as wide, and, consequently, much closer together at their base.
The Walia ibex is a vulnerable species of ibex. It is sometimes considered an endemic subspecies of the Alpine ibex. If the population were to increase, the surrounding mountain habitat would be sufficient to sustain only 2,000 ibex. The adult Walia ibex's only known wild predator is the hyena. However, young ibex are often hunted by a variety of fox and cat species. The ibex are members of the goat family, and the Walia ibex is the southernmost of today's ibexes. In the late 1990s, the Walia ibex went from endangered to critically endangered due to the declining population. The Walia ibex is also known as the Abyssinian ibex. Given the small distribution range of the Walia ibex in its restricted mountain ecosystem, the presence of a large number of domestic goats may pose a serious threat that can directly affect the survival of the population.
The Siberian ibex, also known using regionalized names including Altai ibex,Asian ibex, Central Asian ibex, Gobi ibex, Himalayan ibex, Mongolian ibex or Tian Shan ibex, is a polytypic species of ibex, a wild relative of goats and sheep. It lives in Central Asia, and is, by far, the most widely-distributed species in the genus Capra. In terms of population stability, Siberian ibex are currently ranked as Near Threatened, mostly due to over-hunting, low densities and overall decline; still, reliable data is minimal and difficult to come by, in addition to the animals’ expansive natural range, so accurate observations are still scant. The Siberian ibex has, formerly, been treated as a subspecies of the Eurasian Alpine ibex, and whether or not it is a single species or a complex of distinct units that stand out as genetically-distinct is still not entirely clear. The Siberian ibex is the longest and heaviest member of the genus Capra, though its shoulder height is slightly surpassed by the markhor.
Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in the Chouf and Aley districts of Lebanon. It is located on the slopes of Jebel Baruk mountain and has an area of 550 km2 (210 sq mi), nearly 5.3% of the Lebanese territory, making it the largest natural reserve in Lebanon.
The bezoar ibex is a wild goat subspecies that is native to the montane forested areas in the Caucasus and the Zagros Mountains.
The Chiltan ibex or Chiltan goat is a wild goat endemic to Chiltan, Balochistan, Pakistan.
The goat or domestic goat is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bovidae, meaning it is closely related to the sheep. It was one of the first animals to be domesticated, in Iran around 10,000 years ago.
American Lamancha, or more commonly, simply Lamancha or LaMancha, is a formally recognized breed of dairy goat, first bred in California by Mrs. Eula Fay Frey about 1927. Later she moved the herd to Glide, Oregon for further development. The Lamancha goat is a member of the Capra genus, specifically Capra aegagrus hircus, like all domestic goats.
The Pyrenean ibex, Aragonese and Spanish common name bucardo, Basque common name bukardo, Catalan common name herc and French common name bouquetin, was one of the four subspecies of the Iberian ibex or Iberian wild goat, a species endemic to the Pyrenees. Pyrenean ibex were most common in the Cantabrian Mountains, Southern France, and the northern Pyrenees. This species was common during the Holocene and Upper Pleistocene, during which their morphology, primarily some skulls, of the Pyrenean ibex was found to be larger than other Capra subspecies in southwestern Europe from the same time.
The Dhofar Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, they extend from Dhofar Governorate in Oman to Hadhramaut Governorate in Yemen, and are located between the Hajar in the northern part of Oman, and the Sarawat in the western part of Yemen. Otherwise, the range in the eastern part of Yemen, particularly near Mukalla, is referred to as the Hadhramaut or "Mahrat".
Goat evolution is the process by which domestic goats came to exist through evolution by natural selection. Wild goats — medium-sized mammals which are found in noticeably harsh environments, particularly forests and mountains, in the Middle East and Central Asia — were one of the first species domesticated by modern humans, with the date of domestication generally considered to be 8,000 BC. Goats are part of the family Bovidae, a broad and populous group which includes a variety of ruminants such as bison, cows and sheep. Bovids all share many traits, such as hooves and a herbivorous diet and all males, along with many females, have horns. Bovids began to diverge from deer and giraffids during the early Miocene epoch. The subfamily Caprinae, which includes goats, ibex and sheep, are considered to have diverged from the rest of Bovidae as early as the late Miocene, with the group reaching its greatest diversity in the ice ages.
Job 39 is the 39th chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of God to Job, which belongs to the "Verdicts" section of the book, comprising Job 32:1–42:6.
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