622 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Ehrenberg, 1832, p. following nn) . Knobs on horns narrower, taller, 

 and more irregularly disposed than in C. n. nubiana; good horns 

 measuring from 30 to 38^ inches along front curve (Lydekker, 1913, 

 vol. 1, pp. 154-155). 



The range includes mountainous or rugged parts of the Sinai 

 Peninsula, Palestine, and Trans-Jordan. The southeastern limits of 

 the subspecies, where it presumably intergrades with C. n. mengesi, 

 have not been accurately determined. 



Hemprich and Ehrenberg (1832, p. kk and p. following nn} re- 

 ported seeing many in the Sinai mountains, in flocks of 4 to 20. 



"The Syrian Ibex, or Beden, is still found, not only in the ravines 

 of Moab, but in the wilderness of Judaea, near the Dead Sea. I 

 have procured several specimens on both sides of Jordan. . . . The 

 Beden ... is the 'Wild Goat' of Scripture. I obtained it twice at 

 Engedi, where it is mentioned in connection with David's wander- 

 ings." (Tristram, 1884, pp. 6-7.) 



John C. Phillips writes (in G. M. Allen, 1915, p. 14) : 



The Sinai Ibex still persists over all the rugged parts of the Sinai peninsula, 

 near Akaba and up at least as far as the northeast end of the Dead Sea. 

 Although undoubtedly greatly reduced in numbers since Tristram's time 

 (1884), it manages to persist in spite of the fact that every hand is against it 

 during the entire year, and its freshly dropped kids are eagerly hunted by the 

 natives with dogs. I hunted three days and saw only four smallish animals, 

 but signs were fairly numerous. . . . The leopard hunts these Ibexes and 

 presumably kills a good many, as various sportsmen have testified. 



Carruthers (1915a, pp. 23-26) gives the following account: 



[This Ibex ranges] northwards as far as the upper end of the Dead Sea .... 



[On the plateau of Moab] the ibex find a very safe and rarely-disturbed 

 retreat. . . . The streams which come down from the plateau of Moab have 

 cut deep trenches, which are a favourite retreat for the ibex in localities where 

 there are no natives. But in other districts the ibex has left the higher and 

 more rugged country to the Arab shepherds and retreated down to the 

 most barren hills in the lowest part of the Dead Sea depression. . . . 



They are also found in small numbers on the west side of the Dead Sea 

 .... Southwards they range without a break to the Gulf of Akaba, and thence 

 extend into the Peninsula of Sinai. . . . 



The easiest conditions under which to find these ibex are when they inhabit 

 secluded desert ranges where they are not harassed by native hunters. Some 

 sort of protection is needed, and in these days it is either the very rugged 

 country, such as Sinai, or very featureless and apparently inadequate hills 

 situated in uninhabited localities. 



In 1909 Carruthers (1935, pp. 60, 64, 70, 82) found Ibex of an 

 undetermined subspecies "in considerable numbers" on Jabal Tu- 

 baiq, approximately 150 miles east of the head of the Gulf of 

 Akaba. Farther south, at Jiraniyat, "I witnessed the unusual sight 

 of two Ruwalla youths hunting the wild-goats on foot; with the 

 aid of falcons and long-dogs they literally ran them down!" 



