248 



UNGULATES. 



Habits. 



Herat, on the Persian frontier, in the north-west, to Kumaon in the south-east. 

 It is found not only on the crags but likewise on the open Pamir country. 

 To the south of the Valley of Kashmir the ibex is unknown in the Pir Panjal 

 range, and its continuation to the north-west of the Jhelam river, the Kajnag; 

 but it is not known to occur in the Himalaya to the eastward of the sources of the 

 Ganges, neither is it recorded from Eastern Tibet. Messrs. Blanford and Hodgson 

 have, however, reason to believe that it occurs in Tibet to the northwards of 

 Shikatse, on the Sanpo river, and also near Lhasa. 



Like its Alpine cousin, the Himalayan ibex inhabits the crags 

 and upland meadows at or near the snow^level, rising or descending 

 according to the season of the year. General Macintyre writes of the habits of 



this species, in the following 

 words : " From what I have 

 seen and heard of ibex, their 

 sense of smell is not nearly so 

 acute as their si^ht. But 



o 



they seldom apprehend danger 

 from above, so it is best to 

 approach them, if possible, 

 from that direction. During 

 the spring and early summer 

 they may be seen feeding at 

 almost any time of the day 

 on the green patches of herb- 

 age among the higher crags 

 and snow-fields, only taking 

 a siesta for a few hours at a 

 time. In the dead of winter 

 they are found much lower 

 on the mountain-sides. Pro- 

 vided they do not see the 

 hunter, they are not always 

 scared away by firing, prob- 

 ably owing to their being so 

 accustomed to hearing the 

 noise of falling rocks and 



avalanches. And sometimes they get so bewildered by the echoes of a shot, that 

 they give time for several easy chances before making up their minds to be off. 

 If one of them, however, catches only a glimpse of anything suspicious, a warning 

 whistle at once sends off the whole herd, although they often depart very leisurely, 

 even after being shot at. Ibex sometimes congregate in large numbers, but they 

 are usually found in flocks of from six or seven to twenty or so, the older bucks 

 often herding separately, except during the rutting-season. Despite the quantities 

 that are shot, killed by avalanches, and by those terrible foes to all Himalayan 

 game, the wild dogs, there appears to be little decrease in their numbers on the 

 more sequestered hunting-grounds ; for they are very prolific, each doe having as 



HEAD OF HIMALAYAN IBEX. 



