Sindh Ibex | Online Record Book Preview

Capra aegagrus blythi

Bezoar del Sindh (Sp), Sindh Bezoar (G), Chèvre à bézoard du Sindh (F). Also called Sindh wild goat. Named after the Sindh region of southern Pakistan. Subspecific name is for British zoologist E. Blyth.

DESCRIPTION (male) Shoulder height 29-37 inches (74-95 cm). Weight 100-200 pounds (45-90 kg). Females are smaller.

Differs from the typical bezoar by being paler in color and somewhat smaller in size, and in having horns that are closer together at the tips and either without knobs on the front keel or with only a few small ones.

HABITAT Arid cliffs and mountains, from near sea level to 11,000 feet (3,350 m). Main requirement seems to be precipitous crags where it is safe from disturbance.

DISTRIBUTION West of the Indus River in southern Pakistan and the adjoining Chagai Hills of southern Afghanistan. Boundaries with the typical bezoar or pasang to the west are unclear.

REMARKS "The old male Sindh ibex is one of the handsomest beasts in the world-the warm grey of his coat shading into dark-brown points, the chin beard and proud carriage of sweeping scimitar-like horns all combine to make a band of old bucks, poised in the rising sun on the jagged teeth of the crest of the Kirthar Range, a most memorable sight." (C. H. Stockley, 1936)