CAPRA

Alpine

Indigenous Alpine chamois (R. r. rupicapra) are found in the Alps of southeastern France, northern Italy, Switzerland, southwestern Germany, western Austria and Slovenia. Summer coat is light brown. Winter coat is very dark brown to black, contrasting sharply with white areas of head, throat and rump, and with the dark facial mask very pronounced.

Anatolian

Northern and eastern parts of Anatolia (Asian Turkey). The type specimen was described from near the city of Trebizond on the Black Sea. General color is a dark, smoky brown with a broad, black dorsal stripe. Neck and legs are blackish-brown, being darker than in most European races. Underparts are pale, rump is white. Throat, lower jaw, and front of face are white, and there are dark stripes across the eyes to the muzzle. In this subspecies the horns are relatively short and thin.

Balkan

Somewhat larger than the Alpine chamois, with longer horns. Found in Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, and Macedonia.

Cantabrian

The smallest chamois, with the lightest coloration. Summer coat is reddish, turning brown in winter. Underparts are pale. Rump, throat, lower jaw and front of face are yellowish. Smaller and paler than the Pyrenean chamois and with shorter, slimmer horns. Cantabrian Mountains of northwestern Spain.

Carpathian

The largest chamois with the longest horns. Romania, in the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian Alps as well as in the northwestern parts of Serbia bordering Romania.

Caucasian

Similar to the Alpine chamois but somewhat smaller, with relatively short, stout horns. The Caucasus Mountains of Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and also in the Lesser Caucasus of southwestern Georgia near the Turkish border.

Chartreuse

This chamois is found only on the Chartreuse massif of the northern French Alps in southeastern France.

Pyrenean

Summer coat is reddish, turning brown in winter. Underparts are pale. Rump, throat, lower jaw and front of face are yellowish. Larger and darker than the Cantabrian chamois, with longer, thicker horns. Locally in the Pyrenees Mountains of northeastern Spain and southern France.

Tatra

Scientists separated the Tatra Chamois from the Alpine Chamois in 1972 because of its larger skull, its somewhat different coloration, and its different Ecological requirements. Its horns, however, are about the same size as those of the Alpine Chamois. Tatra Mountain range of Poland and Slovakia.

Vercors

The Vercors Chamois is a mountain game that lives in the Vercors Massif, in the south-east of France. Generally smaller than the Alpine Chamois, its coat is also greyer or is mottled with grey on dark coat. The horns of the Vercors Chamois are thicker than the Alpine Chamois. Stalking is the only method of hunting Chamois.

Altai

The Altai Ibex is also called Siberian Ibex. A large ibex, thick-legged and stoutly built, with a long, pointed chin beard and heavy, scimitar-shaped horns. The male’s horns are large and impressive, curving around to form three-fourths of a circle and tapering to relatively slender points. Horns are relatively flat on the front surface and have well-defined cross ridges.

Hunted in Russia.

Alpine

The Alpine ibex is a stocky animal, darker in color than other ibexes. The upper parts are a uniform grayish-brown (lighter in summer and darker in winter), separated from the pale underparts by a darker brown band. The legs, upper surface of tail and forehead are also a darker brown.

Free-ranging populations have since been re-established elsewhere in Italy, and also in Switzerland, Austria and adjacent parts of France, Germany and Slovenia.

Beceite

The Beceite ibex is one of three categories established for record-keeping purposes by splitting Mediterranean ibex (subspecies hispanica) into geographical groups based on horn size and shape. This is the largest and darkest type with the largest horns. Typically, the horns are straighter than in Gredos ibex and have a spiral turn of less than 180 degrees. Horn thickness remains constant for half the length, then decreases toward the tip, which is not as thin as in the Gredos race. While this is the typical Beceite horn conformation, other horn shapes may be found in this region and even in the same herd.

Mountains of Beceite and Tortosa in northeastern Spain.

Bezoar

The bezoar is a handsome animal, its blackish-brown markings contrasting with the lighter body color. Summer coat is reddish-brown, turning brownish-gray in winter, with old males ashy-gray. Underparts and back of legs are white. The dark blackish-brown areas include the face, throat, chest, dorsal stripe, shoulder stripes, flank stripes, front of legs, and tail. The chin beard is long and black and, in old males, as wide as the chin. Callouses develop on the knees and sometimes on the chest. Males have large, laterally compressed, scimitar-shaped horns. The front edge is sharp, forming a keel for some distance, above which are bold, sharp-edged, widely separated knobs. Females grow short, slender horns and do not have beard. They are tawny-brown at all seasons, with a dark stripe from eye to muzzle.

Anatolia (Asian Turkey), northeastern Iraq, most of Iran and adjoining western Afghanistan. Also in the eastern Caucasus (where it is said to be rare) and extreme southern Turkmenistan.

Gredos

After the Beceite ibex, the Gredos ibex is the largest and darkest in color and has the largest horns. Typically, the horns are lyre-shaped with a pronounced curve and a spiral turn of more than 180 degrees. Horn thickness decreases progressively from the base to the very thin tip. While this is the typical Gredos horn conformation, other horn shapes may be found in this region and even in the same herd.

Mountains in west-central Spain, especially the Gredos and Batuecas mountains.

Gobi

General color is pale brown without a lighter saddle. The horns are shorter and slimmer than those of the Siberian ibex, but the cross ridges are often larger and closer together.

Gobi and trans-Altai Gobi in Mongolia.

Himalayan

A big male will stand 40 inches (102 cm) at the shoulder and weigh 200 pounds (91 kg). Coat is thick and woolly in winter, being shed in early summer. Color is very variable, ranging from pale brown to dark brown, with a darker dorsal stripe and often a lighter saddle patch and whitish neck patch. Generally darker in summer than in winter.

Both sides of the western Himalayas from Chitral in Pakistan, eastward to Leh and the upper Shyok River in Ladakh, and southeastward to the upper Sutlej River in northern India.

Hybrid Kri-Kri

Hybrid Kri-Kri ibex are a cross-breed between the “Kri-Kri Ibex” and a “Feral Goat”.

They live in the wild; many of these populations have been feral for centuries.  Shoulder height about 32 inches. Weight 100-140 pounds. Males grow a large, shaggy chin beard. The Hybrid Kri-Kri ibex browses on leaves, twigs and weeds and is therefore a highly destructive feeder. These are sturdy, powerful animals with an outer coat of long, coarse hair and undercover of fine wool. The coloration is very specific for these animals: yellowish-clear tan body color, with a distinctive “black cross” going from the front limbs across the center of the body towards the hind legs. The Hybrid Kri-Kri ibex have a distinctive horn formation: they rise upward and backward from the skull, and then spread sideways in a tight homonymous spiral.

Islands off the coast of Croatia, in Macedonia, mainland Greece and on the Gioura island in Greece.

Kri-Kri

Kri Kri Ibex (Capra Aegagrus Cretica) is the smallest ibex by body weight than all other ibexes but not by the length of its antlers. It is a relatively slender animal with blackish-brown markings that contrast with the lighter overall color. Summer coat is reddish-brown, turning ashy gray in winter in adult males. Underparts and back of legs are white. The dark blackish areas include a dorsal stripe, shoulder stripes, flank stripes, front of legs, chest, tail, throat, face and beard. Callouses develop on the knees and sometimes on the chest. Males are characterized by large, scimitar-shaped, laterally compressed horns. The front edge is a sharp keel with a number of bold, sharp-edged, widely separated knobs.

Found on islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea, mainland Greece and Macedonia.

Mid-Asian

Its coloration is very different from that of the Siberian and Gobi ibexes. In winter coat, most adult males are a cinnamon-brown color of varying intensity, becoming browner and duller on the flanks, shoulders and thighs. There usually is a dark, well-developed dorsal stripe, and also a light-colored saddle patch that can vary in size, shape and location. A very dark flank band separates the brown flanks from the whitish belly. There is a distinct brown band on the front surface of the forelegs, a lighter one on the hind legs. The head is lighter than the flanks-actually somewhat grayish-and the beard is brown. However, there is a good deal of individual variation in color and markings. Some animals are darker or lighter, and some are a uniform light gray color. The dorsal stripe may be wide, narrow, or absent entirely. The saddle patch may be light or dark, large or small, on the neck or shoulder instead of the small of the back, absent entirely, or there may be more than one patch.

The Pamir, Alai, Transalai and Tian Shan mountains in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and China.

Nemrut (Hybrid)

This animal is a cross between a Bezoar Ibex and  a domestic goat that has escaped into the wild. A great variety of color variations as well as physical characteristics, including horns may exist from this cross-breeding. Horns are scimitar-shaped like that of the Bezoar, but are generally wider and flaring in appearance and lower in profile than that of the pure Bezoar Ibex. Facial shape and profiles will more closely resemble that of the domestic goat including long, sloppy type ears.

Turkey, Adiyaman Mtns.

Persian Desert

The Persian desert ibex weighs only 100-130 pounds, versus the bezoar ibex which weighs around 200 pounds.. A handsome animal with blackish markings that contrast sharply with the lighter body color. The summer coat is reddish-brown, with adult males turning ashy-gray in winter. Underparts and back of legs are white. The blackish areas include the dorsal stripe, shoulder stripes, flank stripes, front of legs, chest, tail, throat and face. There is a long, black chin beard. Callouses are developed on the knees and sometimes on the chest. Males are characterized by large, scimitar-shaped, laterally compressed horns. The front edge is sharp, forming a keel for some distance, above which are a number of bold, sharp-edged, widely separated knobs.

Hunted in Eastern Iran.

Ronda

The Ronda ibex is one of three categories established for record-keeping purposes by splitting Mediterranean ibex (subspecies hispanica) into geographical groups based on horn size and shape. (The other two are Beceite ibex and southeastern Spanish ibex.) The smallest type of Spanish ibex with the smallest horns. Overall color is a light brown. The horns resemble those of an Alpine ibex, typically growing upward in a V-shape, then backward with a spiral turn of only 90 degrees. Horn thickness is constant for half the length, then decreases gradually to the broomed tips. While this is the typical Ronda horn conformation, other horn shapes may be found in this region and even in the same herd.

Ronda Mountains in extreme southern Spain.

Siberian

A large ibex, thick-legged and stoutly built, with a long, pointed chin beard and heavy, scimitar-shaped horns. The summer coat is short, becoming long, coarse and brittle in winter with a dorsal crest and thick undercoat. Color is variable, but generally in summer it is some shade of yellowish or grayish-brown with a darker dorsal stripe, dark underparts and legs, and without a lighter saddle patch. Winter coat is yellowish-white and usually there is a large, light saddle patch. The dorsal stripe, tail and beard are blackish-brown. The male’s horns are large and impressive, curving around to form three-fourths of a circle and tapering to relatively slender points. Horns are relatively flat on the front surface and have well-defined cross ridges.

Sayan and Altai mountains of Siberia and Mongolia.

Sindh

Differs from the typical bezoar by being paler in color and somewhat smaller in size, and in having horns that are closer together at the tips and either without knobs on the front keel or with only a few small ones.

West of the Indus River in southern Pakistan and the adjoining Chagai Hills of southern Afghanistan.

Southeastern

The southeastern Spanish ibex is one of three categories established for record-keeping purposes by splitting Mediterranean ibex (subspecies hispanica) into geographical groups based on horn size and shape. Smaller and lighter in color than the Beceite and Gredos types, but larger and darker than the Ronda type. Horn size and shape vary considerably from place to place, with those from the Sierra Nevada generally the largest. Horns from Tejada-Almijara tend to be the most distinctive, forming a circle with the tips growing toward the neck like those of a mouflon. The keel is smooth, making the horns almost round in cross-section.

The mountains and reserves of Tejada, Almijara, Sierra Nevada, Lujar, Cazorla, and Muela de Cortes in southeastern Spain.

Dagestan

Somewhat smaller and decidedly darker in color than the west Caucasian tur. The coat is uniformly reddish-brown in summer, with underparts whitish and the tail, breast and lower legs darker. Turns a uniform dark brown in winter, with underparts slightly lighter and the tail, breast and lower legs much darker. There is a small white rump patch. Beard is dark and very short (up to three inches, or 76 mm, in length), and difficult to detect in some animals. The horns are quite unusual for a goat, being smooth and rounded, curving above and behind the neck (supracervical), with the tips turning inward and upward; they are quite similar to those of the Himalayan blue sheep or bharal, but are more massive.

Eastern part of the Caucasus Mountains east of Mt. Dykhtau.

Kuban

Larger than the mid-Caucasian tur, with a more ibexlike appearance. The face is short and blunt. The hoofs are large. The beard is long (up to seven inches, or 178 mm), narrow and prominent. The short summer coat is yellowish-tan, lighter on the back and sides, darker on the head, very dark brown on the tail and lower legs, and dirty white on the belly. The winter coat is heavier and coarser, varying from grayish to yellowish-brown, with a dark dorsal stripe. The horns are black and rather similar to those of an ibex, being scimitar-shaped and having prominent cross ridges on the front surface, but they are much more massive and relatively shorter. The tips are widely separated, the distance varying from about 16-26 inches (41-66 cm), sometimes more. The horns appear almost circular in cross section, actually being triangular with strongly rounded angles and bulging surfaces (especially the orbital and nuchal surfaces; the front surface is flatter).

A limited range at the extreme northwestern end of the Caucasus Mountains, from Mt. Cugus (northeast of Krasnaya Polyana, which is northeast of Sochi) eastward to include the upper reaches of the Belaya and Laba rivers.

Mid-Caucasian

The black horns are somewhat smoother, with smaller cross ridges, and the tips may be closer together. The beard is shorter, being only of moderate length. Summer coat is reddish-gray, with forehead and chest darker and browner; front of legs darker, becoming black near the hoofs; belly and inner thighs a dirty white. A darker dorsal stripe may or may not be present. The caucasica race from Mt. Elbrus eastward to Mt. Dykhtau was originally described as a hybrid between severtzovi and the east Caucasian tur (cylindricornis). Individual horns are said to vary from supracervical like those of cylindricornis, though often with cross ridges like those of dinniki, to long and scimitar-shaped like those of dinniki, but relatively smooth like those of cylindricornis. The caucasica race is generally darker in color than the severtzovi race, and with a dark dorsal streak. The winter coat is dark brown.

West-central Caucasus Mountains (except for the range of the west Caucasian tur in the far northwest). Includes severtzovi (western Caucasus, east of the range of the Kuban tur and west of Mt. Elbrus) and caucasica (central Caucasus, from Mt. Elbrus east to Mt. Dykhtau).

Himalayan Tahr

A medium-sized, powerfully built animal with a full coat of hair and a shaggy mane around the neck and shoulders and extending to the knees. The overall color varies, but in most cases is dark reddish-brown with a yellowish mane and a dark, sometimes indistinct, dorsal stripe. The face is always dark brown. The horns (both sexes) are short and stout, laterally compressed, keeled in front and curved backward to a tapered point.

A narrow strip along the southern flanks of the Himalayas from about Banihal Pass in the Pir Panjal Range of northern India eastward to Bhutan. Penetrates the main Himalayan Range only in some of the large gorges. In Europe, they can be found in Macedonia and Slovenia.

Dalmatian Goat

These are domestic goats living in the wild, some having escaped from domesticity, others having been abandoned or released by their owners. Some populations in Europe have been feral for centuries. Domestic goats are believed to be descended from the bezoar ibex or wild goat (Capra aegagrus) of the Middle East. These are sturdy, powerful animals with an outer coat of long, coarse hair and an undercoat of fine wool. Because of their mixed origin, there is no fixed type of color or pattern. Color varies from black to white, although most individuals are a mixture of black, gray, brown and white. Males grow a large, shaggy chin beard. The horns (both sexes) are of two principal types. One type rises upward and backward from the skull, then spreads sideways in a tight homonymous spiral. In the other type, the horns grow straight backward in a semicircle (scimitar-shaped), similar to those of the bezoar.

Mainland Croatia and islands in the Adriatic Sea.

Mallorcan Goat

The oldest remains of this species have been dated to 2030 B.C. by archeologists that have studied the fauna of the Mediterranean Sea. The Balearean Goat is indigenous to the Balearean Island of Mallorca. These animals are completely wild, the biggest threat to their existence being the cross-breeding with domestic livestock.

Island of Mallorca, one of the Balearean Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. There mainly on the entire west coast and north-west in the Sierra de Tramuntana and the Formentor, Alcudia and Artá Peninsulas.

Other Feral Goat

These are domestic goats living in the wild, some having escaped from domesticity, others having been abandoned or released by their owners. Some populations in Europe have been feral for centuries. Domestic goats are believed to be descended from the bezoar ibex or wild goat (Capra aegagrus) of the Middle East. These are sturdy, powerful animals with an outer coat of long, coarse hair and an undercoat of fine wool. Because of their mixed origin, there is no fixed type of color or pattern. Color varies from black to white, although most individuals are a mixture of black, gray, brown and white. Males grow a large, shaggy chin beard. The horns (both sexes) are of two principal types. One type rises upward and backward from the skull, then spreads sideways in a tight homonymous spiral. In the other type, the horns grow straight backward in a semicircle (scimitar-shaped), similar to those of the bezoar.

Feral goats, living wild and free, mainly in remote mountain regions, are hunted all over Europe but mainly in Croatia and Macedonia.