The West Caucasian tur (''Capra caucasica'') is a mountain-dwelling

goat-antelope The subfamily Caprinae, also sometimes referred to as the tribe Caprini, is part of the ruminant family (biology), family Bovidae, and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine, or, more informally, ...

native to the western half of the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

range, in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the wild population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals.

Names

It is also known by the names "zebuder," "zac" and "Caucasian ibex."

Description

West Caucasian turs stand up to tall at the shoulder and weigh around . They have large but narrow bodies and short legs. West Caucasian turs have a chestnut coat with a yellow underbelly and darker legs. Their horns are scimitar-shaped and heavily ridged. In males, these horns are around , while in females they are much smaller.

Habitat

West Caucasian turs live in rough mountainous terrain between above sea level, where they eat mainly

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es and

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

Predators

They are preyed upon by steppe wolves and

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

es;

Persian leopard ''Panthera pardus tulliana'' is a leopard subspecies native to the Iranian Plateau and surrounding areas encompassing Turkey, the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and possibly Pakistan. Since 2016, i ...

s and Syrian brown bears may also be possible predators.

Behaviour

The West Caucasian tur is

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, eating in the open at night, and sheltering during the day. Females live in herds of around 10 individuals, while males are solitary.

References

External links

''Capra caucasica'' on ultimate ungulate web
Capra (genus) Mammals of Europe Tur, Caucasian, West Mammals described in 1783 Taxa named by Johann Anton Güldenstädt {{eventoedungulate-stub