Species Fact Profile: Markhor (Capra falconeri)

                                                                      Markhor

Capra falconeri (Wagner, 1839)

Range: Western Himalayas (Central Asia through India)

Habitat: Mountain Woodlands and Grasslands, up to 3600 meters

Diet: Grasses, Leaves, Bushes

Social Grouping: Females and kids live in small herds of up to 10.  Adult males are solitary outside of the breeding season

Reproduction:  Breeding takes place during winter.   1-2 (very rarely 3) kids are born after a gestation of 135-170 days, from late April through early June.  Kids are weaned at 5-6 months and sexually mature at 18-30 months (females mature earlier than males).  Young usually remain with their mother until the next breeding season.

Lifespan: 10-15 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Near Threatened, CITES Appendix I

•       Tallest of the wild goats, but the Siberian ibex is heavier and longer.  Body length 1.3-1.85 meters, shoulder height 65-115 centimeters, tail length 8-20 centimeters.  Weigh 32-110 kilograms.  Males are over twice as large as females
•       Coat is grizzled light brown, short in the summer and growing out in the winter.  Males have long fringes of hair on the chin, throat, and chest (females may also have beards, but much shorter in length).  Lower legs are black and white.
•       Horns are tightly spiraled, growing up to 25 centimeters long in females and up to 160 centimeters long in males.  They spread outward in a V-shape from the center of the head
•       Males have a pungent smell, similar to that of domestic goats by stronger
•       During the rut, males will fight for access to females, locking their horns and twisting, trying to throw one another off balance.  \
•       Predators include snow leopard, Eurasian lynx, and grey wolf.  Golden eagles may prey on kids.  Markhor have excellent eyesight, and use their difficult to access habitat as their primary means of defense from predators
•       Common name comes from the Persian for “snake-eater” or “snake-killer” (or sometimes as “snake-horned”), possibly a reference to their corkscrew-shaped horns.  The genus name means “she-goat” in Greek, while the species name honors Hugh Falconer, a Scottish paleontologist and botanist who was active in India)
•       Five (counts vary) subspecies recognized: Astor (C. f. falconeri), Bukharan or Tajik (C. f. heptneri), Kabul (C. f. megaceros), Kashmir (C. f. cashmiriensis), and Suleiman (C. f. jerdoni).  Configuration of horns is the most common trait for distinguishing subspecies, but there can be considerable variation even within a single population.  
•       Vulnerable to human hunters in the winter months, when they descend to the lowlands.  Popular among trophy hunters because of their unique horns, also used in Traditional Asian medicines and hunted for meat.  Some countries have banned hunting, others allow trophy hunting to raise funds for conservation programs.  Poaching may have increased during the war in Afghanistan due to the political turmoil
•       Also threatened by habitat loss and degradation, competition with domestic livestock
•       Some authorities have suggested that the markhor might be the ancestor of certain breeds of domestic goat.  Markhor can freely interbreed with domestic goats
•        Have been introduced to Texas on hunting ranches, but unlike many other exotic ungulates they have not escaped in sufficient numbers to establish sustainable wild populations
•       National animal of Pakistan, was featured on ISI (Pakistani intelligence) logo