208 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
along the nape and back, black tail, white belly, blackish shoulder-stripe, and a black line 
dividing the hinder part of the flank from the white belly. Formerly found in the islands of 
South-eastern Europe, it now inhabits parts of the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands, Mount 
Ararat, and the Persian mountains as far east as Baluchistan. A smaller race is found in Sind. 
It lives in herds, sometimes of considerable size, and frequents not only the high ground, but 
the mountain forests and scrub, where such cover exists. The domesticated goat of Sweden is 
said to be certainly a descendant of this species. 
THE IBEX 
Of the IBEX, perhaps the best known of all the wild goats, several species, differing 
somewhat in size and in the form of their horns, are found in various parts of the Old World. 
Of these, the ARABIAN IBEX inhabits the mountains of Southern Arabia, Palestine, and Sinai, 
bai} 1s Thom » Bsa. - an We 
— — SCHWARTZALS GOAT 
A large, long-haired breed, which derives its name from its peculiar colour, the fore part of the body being black and the hinder part white. 
These goats are good milkers 
Upper Egypt, and perhaps Morocco. The ABYSSINIAN IBEX is found in the high mountains of 
the country from which it takes its name. The ALPINE IBEX is now extinct in the Swiss 
Alps and Tyrol, but survives on the Piedmontese side of Monte Rosa. The ASIATIC IBEX is 
the finest of the group; its horns have been found to measure 54% inches along the curve. 
This ibex inhabits the mountain-ranges of Central Asia, from the Altai to the Himalaya, and 
the Himalaya as far as the source of the Ganges. 
The King of Italy is the great preserver of the ALPINE IBEX, and has succeeded where 
the nobles of the Tyrol have failed. The animals are shot by driving them, the drivers being 
expert mountaineers. The way in which the ibex come down the passes and over the precipices 
is simply astonishing. One writer lately saw them springing down perpendicular heights of 
40 feet, or descending “chimneys ” in the mountain-face by simply cannoning off with their 
feet from side to side. Young ibex can be tamed with ease, the only drawback to their 
maintenance being the impossibility of confining them. They will spring on to the roof of 
