This cache is one of a series placed in collaboration with the
Zoological Society of Manitoba as a part of the Endangered Species
Cache Game. The Cache is in the Assiniboine Park Zoo. There is a
nominal entrance fee. You can download the game sheet at
www.mbgeocaching.ca or obtain one from the
Zoo Shop
Hunted for food by golden eagles,
bears, wolves and leopards, this Eurasian goat, the ibex, has also
been hunted to near extinction by humans. In ancient times, the
kings of Persia and Egypt kept ibex. It would take a king to save
this surefooted animal from the slippery slope of
extinction.
The
Alpine Ibex are related to
cattle, antelopes and goats and live in the alpine meadows and
slopes of the Alps of Europe. Other races of the ibex occur in
deserts from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia, and mountain slopes from
Afghanistan and Russia to Mongolia. Their diet consists of grasses
and broad-leaved plants. The alpine race was once endangered but has recovered. Certain other
races are endangered. With a
thickset body, draping mane and long curved horns, the ibex assumes
a majestic pose while standing alert on an exposed rocky
crag.
The
male ibex weighs up to 117 kg and his sweeping ringed horns may
reach 140 cm. These are used in head butting to determine dominance
and in combat during the mating season. Ibex breed about December
and give birth to one or two offspring in May to July. The young
are able to nurse and walk within minutes and, remarkably, can
bound and leap along with the parent over rough terrain within
days. Originally ranging throughout the Alps, the alpine ibex was
hunted almost to extinction in Europe by 1850 – the sole survivors
being a few dozen animals in a royal preserve of the King of Italy.
With protection, this population grew to the point where animals
were re-introduced into the wild in Switzerland in
1911. The current
population of alpine ibex numbers over 15,000 in Switzerland,
France, Italy and Austria.