Markhor goat: description and where markhor lives, status and position of the species in nature

The markhor's habitat is the mountains of Central Asia. But even the difficult accessibility of this region does not save them from destruction. Poachers are interested not only in nutritious valuable meat, but also in spectacular one and a half meter horns of animals. Therefore, the species is endangered - in the wild, there are only about two and a half thousand specimens of goat goats.

What does a markhorn goat look like

Also known as markhor, the specific name in Latin Capra falconeri was given to the markhor goat in honor of the Scottish botanist Hugh Falconer, and was first described only in 1839.This species of bovid artiodactyls has a rather large size: 150-170 centimeters long, and the height of the withers of males is up to a meter. Their weight is about 80-90 kilograms, females are almost twice as light. The color of young animals is reddish-gray, in old male markhorn males the coat is off-white. The goats have a thick long beard, and on the chest and neck there is a thick dewlap made of elongated wool, which acquires a special splendor in cold winter.

The head is slightly hook-nosed. The horns look like a corkscrew - each is twisted around a straight axis. In goats, they sometimes exceed one and a half meters in length, having 2-3 turns. At the base, the horns are brought together, and then deviate back and diverge to the sides. The boundaries of annual segments appear on the surface. Horned goats have small horns - no more than 30 centimeters. They are curled like the males, but less flat.

Goats have black stripes on their legs. The hooves are narrow, the hoof horn on them is hard enough to hold onto the smallest ledges of rocks and gallop over hard stones.

Up to six subspecies of markhor goats are distinguished by slight differences in color and degree of twisting of the horns. Their habitats are quite geographically separated from each other. Markhor goats are believed to be one of the progenitors of domestic goats.

Where this animal lives

Small populations of the markhor goat species are observed in the mountainous regions of northwestern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is believed that one of the largest stocks of artiodactyls in natural conditions lives on the slopes of the Kugitang ridge, in the eastern regions of Turkmenistan. There are fewer of them in Uzbekistan, at the headwaters of the Amu Darya River, between the Vakhsh and Pyanj rivers in the southwestern region of Tajikistan.

Location

Goats-goats most often settle on the slopes of rocks, where patches of grass and rare shrubs have been preserved. In summer, most of them do not rise above 2500 meters from sea level, but some males reach the upper limits of alpine meadows and the beginning of the snow belt.In winter cold, markhors descend to where there is less snow cover - to mountain belts at an altitude of 500-900 meters, sometimes coming close to human settlements.

Lifestyle

Goat-goats keep in small groups. Usually these are two or three queens with cubs up to two years old. Markhorn males, as a rule, make up their small "companies" of several heads or lead a solitary life.

More numerous herds of 10-20 animals gather during the autumn year and in the cold winter. At the same time, high-ranking ones are located in the center of the group, while weak, sick, and other low-ranking ones are located on its periphery. Adult goats in such herds make up only 6-10% of the total number, since they die more often. In the autumn, the grown up two-year-old young markhor goats leave their mothers and begin an independent life.

In summer, markhors go out to pasture early in the morning and at dusk, when the heat subsides. In winter, they spend most of the day looking for food. Goats-goats are vigilant and cautious: they often raise their heads even during grazing, examining the surroundings. Noticing the danger, they scream sharply and stomp their feet strongly. This is a signal to others to be on the lookout. If the detected source of threat - a predatory animal or a person - is far away and clearly visible, the herd remains in place, watching it. As soon as he is out of sight, the animals quickly move to a safer place, usually to the nearest rocky slope.

Under natural conditions, markhors rarely live longer than 10 years. This is not the age of their old age - they are more likely to die from predators, avalanches, or not surviving cold winters. In captivity, their life span is extended to 15-19 years.

Animal nutrition

In summer, herbaceous plants - rhubarb, desert sedge, ziziphora, bluegrass, prangos - form the basis of the goat's diet. Young shoots of cereal crops are a special delicacy for them, but foliage, thin branches of shrubs and trees are also eaten. In winter, animals find the remains of dried grasses, eat the shoots and branches of honeysuckle, mountain ash, willow, almond, aspen, maple, and various small shrubs.

If there is plenty of juicy grass, it may be enough for markhor goats to quench their thirst for some time. Usually they are looking for a permanent place for watering - a river, stream, reservoir formed by melted snow or rain. In the cool time of the day, animals visit it twice - early in the morning and at the beginning of the night, in the heat they additionally come at noon.

Reproduction of markhors

Young goats are ready to reproduce at the age of three.Markhorn males become sexually active two years after birth. The rut starts in November and lasts until the beginning of January. It is accompanied by the release of a large amount of hormones into the blood, therefore, in search of free females, goats constantly arrange fierce battles with each other: they dig the ground with their hooves, stand on their hind legs, running up, hitting their foreheads or the base of their horns.

As a rule, they do not cause serious damage to each other, but they lose a lot of strength and become very thin by the middle of winter. Markhorn females remain calm during estrus and do not lose weight.

Usually a markhorn goat forms a harem of several goats. Pregnancy lasts a little longer than five months. In May, first-timers often bring one kid, multiparous - two babies. The first day the cub is on a haulout in a secluded gorge, which the mother finds in advance for lambing, and from the second day of life follows her to the nearest pasture, already from the age of a week trying green food.The mother feeds the offspring until the autumn months, but the kids stay next to her for a couple more years.

Interesting fact: even after leaving the herd, young sexually mature goats cannot always immediately start breeding, driven away from females by older males. Sometimes markhor goats have to spend several years alone, gaining strength.

View status and position

The prey of the markhor goat, which masterfully moves along hard-to-reach rocks, has always been proof of the high degree of skill of the hunter. The animal is not only of gastronomic interest, its beautiful large horns are also a valuable trophy. Since their owners are large and strong males, the main producers of the herd are destroyed.

Decrease in the number of markhor goats is also facilitated by human economic activity: sheep flocks displace them from comfortable pastures, so now small stocks of markhor remain only in the most inaccessible rocky areas and on the territory of protected reserves. Since the markhorned goat species is threatened with complete destruction in the wild, it is included in the Red Book and a special Appendix to the Convention on International Trade.

Experience in captive breeding has proved the success of such reproduction of markhors. The fourth generation lives in a number of zoos.

Recommended