Several species of wild goat whose males carry large curved horns, ridged across the front. They live on steep mountain slopes in Europe, Asia and North and East Africa. Their horns appear at birth and keep growing for life.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Often hunted for its meat, with other parts used in medicine.
At a glance
Found inEurope, Asia, Africa
HabitatMountains
ColoursBrown, Tan
SizeMedium
Height70–110 cm at the shoulder (males)
WeightMales 90–120 kg
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives inherds
Lives for10–20 years
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Mountains of Europe, Asia, North Africa and East Africa.
- What it eats
- Mostly grass, plus herbs, dwarf shrubs and conifer shoots (Alpine ibex).
Did you know
Climbs the 57-degree wall of an Italian dam to lick salt off the stone.
By the 19th century fewer than 100 Alpine ibexes survived, all in Italy’s Gran Paradiso park.
Male Alpine ibexes live about 16 years and females about 20.
Often confused with
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