234 



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, JNIount 

 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 InE.\, i)erhaps 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, 



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A large, Ic.nK-li.iiic.l breud, whidj ileiix cs its u^iiiie finiii its peciiliiir colour, tlw fore part of the Ijoily l.eiiig l.laik aiiil ll:e hinder pai-l n liite. 



These goats are good milkers. 



Upper Egypt, and perhaps Morocco. The Abyssixian 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 

 Aljjs and Tyrol, but survives on the Piedmontese side of IMonte Kosa. 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 peri)endicular 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 



