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, 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 54¾ 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 a house, and spend the day there by preference, though allowed the run of all the premises. The kids are generally two in number; they are born in June.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford] [Woburn Abbey.
MALE ALPINE IBEX.
The finest wild goat of Europe, formerly common on the Swiss Alps, now only on a limited area on the Italian side.
Photo by S. G. Payne, Aytenbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild.
YOUNG MALE ALPINE IBEX