📷 Vassil · CC0
📷 Vassil
📷 Rufus46
IUCN: Near Threatened
Markhor
Capra falconeri
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassMammalia›OrderArtiodactyla›FamilyBovidae›GenusCapra
About
The markhor is Pakistan’s national animal, famed for horns that spiral like an auger — up to 1.6 meters long in old males. Those horns, and a shaggy beard and mane, make it one of the most striking of all wild goats.
Built for cliffs, it balances on ledges barely wide enough for its hooves and feeds on the sparse browse of high rocky slopes, even standing on its hind legs to reach leaves. Years of hunting and competition from livestock pushed it toward extinction, but community-run protection in the Karakoram and Hindu Kush has brought a genuine recovery.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Steep, rocky mountain slopes and scrubby ridges from 600 to 3,600 m
🍃Diet Grasses, herbs, and browse on shrubs and trees
📏Size & Weight Head-body 1.3–1.8 m; shoulder height 65–115 cm
•Weight 32–110 kg (males larger)
⏳Lifespan 10–13 years
🗺Range Mountains of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kashmir
MammalBovid
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Steep, rocky mountain slopes and scrubby ridges from 600 to 3,600 m
🍃Diet Grasses, herbs, and browse on shrubs and trees
📏Size & Weight Head-body 1.3–1.8 m; shoulder height 65–115 cm
•Weight 32–110 kg (males larger)
⏳Lifespan 10–13 years
🗺Range Mountains of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kashmir
Photo Credits
#1Vassil · CC0
#2Vassil · CC0
#3Rufus46 · CC BY-SA 3.0
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