The Tahr 



The Himalayan tahr is a long-haired and shaggy 

 animal ; so shaggy, indeed, that stuffed specimens, in 

 which the hair has been combed during preparation, 

 scarcely ever exhibit this characteristic feature in 

 perfection. In height the tahr stands from 36 to 40 

 inches at the withers ; and it is of somewhat heavy and 

 clumsy build, with a long, narrow, and straight face. 

 The horns of the bucks, which are almost, if not com- 

 pletely, in contact at their bases, are much compressed, 

 and for some distance flattened on both sides ; the 

 lateral surfaces being distinctly marked with transverse 

 striae, and the front angle forming a sharp keel, bearing 

 at intervals small knob-like elevations. After diverginP: 



r • • DO 



from their bases and curving sharply backwards, the 

 horns become slightly convergent towards the tips. 

 Although the hair on the head and face is mostly short, 

 elsewhere it is long and soft, attaining its maximum 

 length and shagginess on the neck, shoulders, and 

 chest of the old bucks, where it forms a huge mane, 

 extending at least to the knees. Darker in old males 

 than in younger bucks and females, the general colour 

 of the hair is reddish or dark brown ; but some 

 individuals are paler than others, and in old bucks the 

 fore part of the mane tends to assume a whitish or 

 hoary tinge. The hairs are pale-coloured at the root 

 and dark brown at the tip. The face, as well as the 

 front surfaces of the legs, are of such a dark shade of 

 brown as to appear almost black in some examples ; 

 and a dark streak runs down the back, although in old 

 males this becomes indistinct. In bucks the hind 

 surface of the legs is pale or rusty red. Immature 

 tahr of both sexes are greyish brown, while kids are 

 very pale-coloured. The short, flattened tail is devoid 

 of hair on its under surface ; as are the hard pads, or 

 callosities, on the knees. The female has two pairs of 

 teats. About 200 lbs. is the approximate weight of a 

 full-grown male. The lengths of the four largest 

 recorded pairs of tahr-horns are 15^, 15, I4^-|, and 



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