Markhor

The markhor is a large wild goat species native to the mountains of Central and South Asia, including parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and India, famous for the long, dramatically spiraled, corkscrew-shaped horns of males, which can exceed a metre and a half in length and gave the species its common name, derived from a Persian word often interpreted as meaning snake-eater in local folklore. It inhabits steep, rugged mountain terrain, often at the edge of forested slopes, where it browses on leaves, grasses and shrubs, and it is an agile climber well suited to navigating cliffs to avoid predators such as snow leopards and wolves. Once severely depleted by hunting, focused conservation efforts, including community-based trophy hunting programs that fund protection, have helped markhor populations recover in parts of its range, and the species is classified as near threatened.