PERSIAN WILD GOAT 
(CAPRA AEGAGRUS ) 
D AGHESTAN, a district lying to the north-east of the main 
chain, is the only locality in the Caucasus proper where 
that magnificent wild goat, the Capra aegagrus , is to be 
? found; and here he is by no means easy to hunt owing to a 
particularly annoying habit of taking refuge in the scrub. 
A good head of this animal is a trophy of which the 
sportsman may well be proud, but for some unknown reason the horns 
of this ibex are frequently uneven, sometimes bending in at the tips, 
while in other instances one horn curves more sharply than the other. 
Thus it is not often that a perfect head is met with, whereas with all the 
other species of ibex it is the exception to find one horn differing much 
from the other. 
As the Capra aegagrus is not plentiful in Daghestan, and is difficult 
to get at on account of the scrub, the hunter will probably have a much 
better chance of success by pursuing the animal in one of the neighbouring 
districts. This goat has a wide range, and is to be found in most of the big 
mountain chains of Asia Minor. Ararat is one of its homes, and some 
good heads have been got near Lake Van. Its habitat extends as far east- 
ward as Scind and the borders of India; it is found in the valley of the 
Araxes, as well as the mountains on the Persian border to the east of the 
Caspian Sea. A few specimens are to be met with on the islands of Crete 
and Antimilo in the Mediterranean; but on Antimilo, where I have also 
hunted him, the ibex has unfortunately become crossed with the domesti- 
cated goat. Moreover, the horns of an island race are always small, owing 
to deterioration from in and in breeding. It was to the east of the Caspian 
that the late Prince Paul Demidoff secured a very fine head of 51 £ inches; 
this country has a further advantage as a hunting ground, for it holds a 
fine sheep of the urial type as well. 
All those who have done much big game shooting are probably haunted 
at times by the thought of animals they have wounded and lost. There 
is one Capra aegagrus head which would be in my collection now had I 
held my rifle a little straighter, and the vision of him sometimes disturbs 
my dreams. 
I had to take rather a longish shot across a narrow valley, and the bullet 
50 
