KARACHI, June 3: The two baby ibex born over two months ago at the Safari Park after a long time are thriving in their enclosure, a recent visit to the facility showed.
The babies, born to two separate mothers, appeared healthy in their enclosure as they ran in a small herd that also included species of wild sheep (urial). It was easy to distinguish males of both species as they had specific physical features; the male ibex had prominent curved horns with long hair on the chin whereas the male urial was without a beard. Females of both species had very short, compressed horns.
The male urial (Ovis orientalis vignei) was also noticeable by a black ruff stretching from the neck to the chest. In contrast to its parents, however, an ibex baby had complete black colour.
“It could be a cross-breed or, perhaps, has a mutated gene,” said Shaista Dilshad, a young zoologist at Safari that has three ibex (two females and a male) and the same number of urial.
The babies born over two months ago were being fed grain and green fodder. They would get mature within a few more weeks and would start breeding when they turned two years, she said.
The Sindh ibex (Capra aegagrus blythi), she said, was a vulnerable species of wild goat found in southern Pakistan. The Khirthar National Park had a good population of both ibex and urial, she said. Like most other mammals, the ibex gave birth to one offspring at a time.
According to the Safari staff, the facility witnessed birth of an ibex species after a long time in addition to 10 to 15 spotted deer and four goslings this season.
“We incubated 10 to 15 eggs of the geese. Of them, we got only three babies. One of the goslings was donated by someone,” Ms Dilshad added.
According to the information available on the net, ibex belong to the genus Capra of mammals that comprises up to nine species including the markhor, the domestic goat and the wild goat. Wild goats are animals of mountain habitat. They are very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation.
An ibex can be 27 to 43 inches tall and weigh up to 270 pounds depending on the sub-species. There are Siberian, Spanish, Alpine, Iranian, and Nubian ibex, as well as other sub-species.
The Sindh ibex is a protected species under the Sindh Wildlife Ordinance, 1972.
“The wildlife department regulates ibex trophy hunting during the hunting season in Surjan, Sumbak, Eri and Hothiano game reserve in Thano Ahmed Khan taluka, Dadu taluka. The reserve lies just east to the Kirthar National Park and the last hunting season starting from December ended in March this year,” said a former official of the department. The official added that hunting was carried out under certain rules, for instance, only the male ibex with horns above 35 inches and above was allowed to be hunted.
