The Sheep and Goats 



233 



WILD GOATS. 



THE TUR. 



IN the Caucasus, both east and 

 west, in the Pyrenees, and on the 

 South Spanish sierras three fine wild 

 goats, with some features not unlike 

 the burhal sheep, are found. They 

 are called TUR by the Caucasian 

 mountaineers. The species found in 

 the East Caucasus differs from that 

 of the west of the range, and both 

 from that of Spain. The EAST 

 CAUCASIAN TUR is a massive, heavy 

 animal, all brown in colour (except on 

 the fronts of the legs, which are 

 blackish), and with horns springing 

 from each side of the skull like half- 

 circles. The males are 38 inches high 

 at the shoulder. The short beard and 

 tail are blackish, and there is no white 

 on the coat. The WEST CAUCASIAN 



rp, . , ,. , , . , Ey permission of P. Thomas, Esq. 



TUR is much lighter in colour than FEMALE TOGGENBURG GOAT . 



that OI the iiaSt CaUCaSUS, and the These goats are milk-goats par excellence ; they remain in profit for at least ten 



homS point backwards more like those montlls in tne y^ 1 Each goat produces on an average from 110 to 120 gallons of 

 , ' milk during the year 



oi the ibex, though set on the skull 

 at a different angle. The SPANISH *~ 

 TUR has the belly and inner sides of 

 the legs white, and a blackish line 

 along the flank, dividing the white 

 from the brown ; also a blackish chest, 

 and some grey on the flank. 



In the Caucasus the tur are 

 found on the high crags above the 

 snow-line in summer, whence they 

 descend at night to feed on patches 

 of upland grass; but the main home 

 of the tur by day is above the snow- 

 line. The Spanish species modifies its 

 habits according to the ground on 

 which it lives. Mr. E. N. Buxton 

 found it in dense scrub, while on the 

 Andalusian sierras it frequents bare 

 peaks 10,000 feet high. In Spain 

 tur are sometimes seen in flocks of 

 from 100 to 150 each. 



THE PERSIAN WILD GOAT. This breed originally came from Switzerland, but is now well known in 



England. The animals are fine in bone, have a long, thin neck, with two tassel-like 



The original of our domesticated appendages. 

 goat is thought by some to be the 



PASANG, or PERSIAN WILD GOAT. It is a fine animal, with large scimitar-shaped horns, curving 

 backwards, flattened laterally, and with knobs on the front edge at irregular intervals. It is 

 more slender in build than the tur, light brown in general colour, marked with a black line 



30 



By permission of P. Thomas, Esq. 



STUD TOGGENBURG GOAT. 



