GOATS. 



■53 



sportsman nor lover of nature can fail to be struck with admiration at his noble 

 bearing. He is powerfully and compactly made, and, in spite of his weight, 

 he has perhaps no equal in traversing difficult and dangerous ground. I know of 

 no animal whose pursuit habitually entails so much difficult climbing, and to be 

 successful one must occasionally venture into places where no less inducement 

 would tempt one to run the risk. Old male markhor are extremely difficult to 

 find, especially where they have been frequently disturbed. Unlike the ibex, which 

 keeps to the rugged crags and steep 

 ravines above the limits of the forest, 

 the markhor delights in rocky forests, 

 and although it occasionally comes out 

 into the open glades, it seeks conceal- 

 ment as much as possible." 



This description applies to the 

 markhor of Kashmir and Astor ; but 

 in Afghanistan the animal inhabits bare 

 and rugged hillsides, owing to the 

 general absence of forest in that country. 

 The ground haunted by markhor in 

 many parts of Kashmir territory is of 

 the most loose and rotten description, 

 which renders stalking decidedly danger- 

 ous. Not unfrequently markhor are 

 found with one or both horns much 

 broken, but whether this is due to 

 accidents from landslips and avalanches, 

 or to combats between one another, does 

 not appear to be ascertained. As 

 already mentioned, the Suliman markhor 

 is frequently found at a comparatively 

 low elevation ; and it appears that in all 

 localities this goat does not bear extreme 

 cold so bravely as its cousin the ibex, 

 and that in winter it always descends 

 to the more protected valleys. This 



sensitiveness to cold is doubtless correctly attributed by Colonel Biddulph to the 

 absence of under-fur, or pashm, in the markhor. 



The agile habits of this goat were well exhibited by a buck formerly kept in 

 the London Zoological Gardens, which, in spite of the weight of a heavy chain, was 

 found nearly every morning mounted on the top of the high wall surrounding 

 his enclosure. In captivity markhor breed freely, the number of young at a 

 birth being either one or two. It does not appear to be ascertained when the 

 young are born in the Pir Panjal range, but in the districts of Astor and Gilgit 

 they are produced in May and June. Markhor have frequently interbred with 

 domestic goats ; and it was formerly considered that the spiral-horned varieties of 

 the latter traced their parentage directly to this species. In domestic goats, as 



HEAD OF MARKHOR ; PIR PANJAL VARIETY. 



