Game Animals of India, etc. 



Afghans, north of Kandahar in Afghanistan, though 

 Sir O. B. St. John considered that it extended through 

 the higher eastern hills inland from the Suleman." 



THE TAHR 



( Hemitragus jemlaicus) 



Native Names. — Tehr or Jehr in the Western 

 Himalaya ; Kras and Jagla^ Kashmiri ; Jkula 

 (male) and Tahrni (female) in Kunawar ; Esbu 



IN THE upper SuTLEJ VALLEY ; Ko.rt IN KuLU AND 



Chamba ; Jharalj Nepali. 



(Plate iv, fig. 6) 



In spite of the circumstance that its distinctness was 

 pointed out and a generic name proposed for it by 

 Brian Hodgson so far back as 1841, the Himalayan 

 tahr was for many years included in the genus Capra^ 

 although it is now regarded as representing a genus apart. 

 The short-horned goats, as the various species of tahr 

 may be termed, are distinguished from other goats by the 

 absence of the beard in the bucks, and the comparative 

 shortness of the horns, which are placed close together at 

 the base, and do not greatly exceed the length of the head. 

 A further distinctive feature is that the horns of females 

 are but little smaller than those of males, thus indicating 

 a transition from other goats towards serows and gorals. 

 The bucks exhale the same strong odour as those of 

 other goats. The muzzle bears a small naked area ; 

 but glands are wanting on the face and in the feet. A 

 remarkable difference between the females of the two 

 Indian representatives of the genus is that while one 

 has four teats, the other bears but two. The black 

 horns, which spring from the skull in the plane of the 

 forehead and curve sharply backwards, are much 

 compressed, with the front edge angulated. 



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