IBEX, any of several species of wild goat (q.v.), sometimes placed apart in a sub-genus Ibex, distinguished by the form of the horns of the ram, which are large (30 to 50 inches long), backward curving, compressed and marked on the front with bold cross-ridges or knob-like protuberances. The ibexes are larger than other goats, about three feet at the withers, although adults of the Himalayas stand 40 inches high. Their coats are harsh, uniformly brown, becoming much grayer in winter, whit ish on the under surface and buttocks, and with darker tints on the face and fore-legs. These animals inhabit the most precipitous and inaccessible heights of lofty mountains, where they assemble in flocks, sometimes consisting of 10 or 15 individuals. During the night they feed in the highest woods, but at sunrise they again ascend the mountains, till they have reached the most perilous heights. They are remarkably swift, and display amazing agility and dexterity in leaping. Several species are distinguished by locality and minor differences. The typical ibex, bouquetin or steinbock (capra Ibex), once numerous throughout the European Alps, now exists only as a semi-domesticated animal in certain valleys on the Italian border.
Other species are named according to their locality: The Arabian ibex (C. sinaitica) of Palestine, Arabia and northern Egypt (see &DEN) ; the Caucasian ibex or tur (C. cau casia), having reddish hair and flattened horns; the Nilgiri ibex (C. hylocrius) of southern India; the Nubian ibex (C. nubiana), charac terized by slender horns; the Abyssinian ibex or walie (C. walie), characterized by a protuberance of the forehead; and the great Himalayan ibex (C. sibirica), which ranges over the high mountains and plateaus of all central Asia, keeping as near the snow-line as possible, and affording the best sport known to that region of game. They move about in small herds, led by a dominating ram, the size of the herd depending mainly on his prowess in keeping together his family. Every spring the young rams leave or are driven away from the herd. When gestating the ewes seek retired spots where the hunter cannot readily locate them.