{"id":4436,"date":"2025-03-20T22:41:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T22:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parquediscovery.pt\/de\/?p=4436"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:36:56","slug":"ibex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parquediscovery.pt\/en\/ibex","title":{"rendered":"Wild goats, Wild sheep and Ibex"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As livestock, sheep and goats \u2013 jointly referred to as \u00absmall livestock\u00bb \u2013 have accompanied humanity since the very beginning of human history (Gen 4:2). Their wild relatives share the same habitat with them yet have very different ways of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the tribe of the goat-antelopes (Caprini<\/em>), all species of sheep, goats, and ibex are grouped together. Because they share many characteristics, it is left to specialists to determine their precise relationships. A genetic indication of their close kinship is the fact that \u00abgeeps\u00bb are occasionally born \u2013 hybrids of sheep and goat.
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While goats have 60 and sheep 54 different chromosomes, the geep, as a fair compromise, is born with 57 chromosomes. In the laboratory, embryos of sheep and goat were experimentally fused with one another at an early stage. The result was a hybrid creature that consisted half of \u00abgoat cells\u00bb and half of \u00absheep cells\u00bb, yet developed entirely normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this day, the Nubian or Syrian ibex (Capra nubiana<\/em>) still exists in Israel. It is likely that the Hebrew designations akko (Deut 14:5) and ja\u2019ala (Prov 5:19) refer to it, with the feminine form ja\u2019el (Job 39:1; Ps 104:18) then denoting the female ibex. In the forms Jaala (Ez 2:56; Neh 7:58) and Jael (Judg 4\u20135), both appear as personal names, and with zur-hajaelim, the \u00abRock of the Ibex\u00bb (1Sam 24:3), also as a place name. Analogously, the nearby En-Gedi (Jos 15:62; 1Sam 24:1\u20132; 2Chr 20:2; Song 1:14; Ezek 47:10) is also interpreted as \u00abSpring of the Ibex\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus aegagrus<\/em>) was formerly native to Israel, but was displaced at a very early time by herds under human care. It is regarded as the ancestral form of the domestic goat. The Hebrew designation te\u2019o (Deut 14:5; Isa 51:20) can probably be assigned to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus aegagrus<\/em>) is not quite as fond of mountains as the ibex, which it closely resembles. It has the same requirements and preferences as the domesticated goat, is therefore its competitor, and was almost everywhere displaced by it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also extinct in Israel is the Armenian wild sheep or mouflon (Ovis orientalis gmelini<\/em>). From genetic data alone, it cannot be determined whether it represents a precursor of the domestic sheep or a feral form. Against the cultural-historical background of the Bible, the latter is more likely, since the domesticated form is mentioned very early. Like the wild goat, it had to give way to herds of tame sheep and is mentioned only in a single passage, under the Hebrew designation zemer (Deut 14:5). The context, however, suggests that the ram caught in the thicket, which Abraham was permitted to sacrifice in place of his son Isaac (Gen 22:13), was also a wild sheep. All three species were counted in Israel as huntable game (Deut 14:5), the consumption of which was permitted, since they are cloven-hoofed and ruminants, that is, pure animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The wild mouflon (Ovis gmelini group<\/em>) currently has no generally recognized biological species name. It may derive from feral domestic sheep. In any case, it belongs to the genus of sheep (Ovis<\/em>) and interbreeds with domestic sheep. Ibex likewise belong to the genus of goats (Capra<\/em>), and thus, for example, Alpine ibex can also be crossed with domestic goats. All the animals mentioned therefore belong to a basic type that comprises at least about 50, and perhaps considerably more, species and many hundreds of sheep and goat breeds \u2013 among the horn-bearers (Bovidae<\/em>) in general, further research is still needed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The question \u00ab Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? \u2026 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?\u00bb (Job 39:1.2) indicates that the reproduction of ibex (and of wild cloven-hoofed animals in general) falls into a specific season (today predominantly in the month of March) that was unknown to humans in Job\u2019s time. While humans have been entrusted by God with the responsibility to beget children according to their own will, animals follow their instincts and are almost always bound to fixed cycles \u2013 specific periods of the year in which they are fertile and can produce offspring. These times are precisely attuned to their species-specific needs. The birth of the young, due to the often inaccessible habitat of the animals, normally eludes human observation almost entirely. God alone knows the right time for every species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Outside the mating season, the Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana<\/em>) lives as a solitary animal. It prefers highly rugged mountainous regions, where no predator and no hunter can follow it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To see a female ibex with her young climbing along a steep cliff is an impressive sight. She is slender and agile \u2013 no wonder she is compared to a beautiful woman: \u00ab A loving doe, a graceful deer – may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.\u00bb (Prov 5:19). She always remains close to her offspring, yet she cannot help them on the cliff face. There they are entirely on their own, must find their own way, and quickly become independent. \u00abTheir young ones grow strong, they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them\u00bb (Job 39:4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe high mountains belong to the wild goats\u00bb (Ps 104:18) \u2013 their incredible sure-footedness and climbing ability are the outstanding characteristics of ibex and goats. This is related to the special anatomy of their broad and flat hooves, more precisely to their underside, the sole of the hoof. The outer edges of the hooves consist of hard horn. With these, the gifted climbers can hook onto tiny irregularities and ledges and pull themselves upward or find a secure foothold. In combination with the soft pad inside, which molds itself like a kind of putty to irregularities in the rocky ground and increases friction, the animals can overcome almost all inclines and substrates found in the mountains. Whether gravel, coarse scree, steep slopes of bare rock, muddy, wet, or even icy paths \u2013 they are equal to all challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they are not only good climbers. Thanks to their powerful leg muscles, they can leap vertically upward from a standstill by up to two meters, and with sufficient run-up they can seemingly effortlessly jump from one side of a ten-meter-wide gorge to the other. Since their spine and legs are very light and elastic, they can withstand a fall onto hard rock from a height of five to six meters without breaking bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The dam wall of Lake Cingino in the Italian region of Piedmont is famous for the fact that ibex (Capra ibex<\/em>) climb around on it in order to lick salt efflorescences from the stones. The hopping patter in the almost vertical wall looks nearly impossible to the observer. Their hooves still find sufficient grip on the tiny irregularities of the roughly hewn stones.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biancardi, CM; Minetti, AE: Climbing dam walls: new habits for the Alpine ibex?<\/em> Hystrix – Italian Journal of Mammalogy 2014; 25 (Supplement, p. 18) \u2013 IX Congresso Italiano di Teriologia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fehilly, C; Willadsen, S; Tucker, E: Interspecific chimaerism between sheep and goat<\/em>. Nature 1984; 307:634-636; doi.org\/10.1038\/307634a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iribarren, C; Kotler, BP: Foraging patterns of habitat use reveal landscape of fear of Nubian ibex Capra nubiana<\/em>. Wildlife Biology 2012;18:194-201; doi: 10.2981\/11-041<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tadesse, SA; Kotler, BP: Seasonal habitat use by Nubian Ibex (Capra Nubiana) evaluated with behavioral indicators<\/em>. Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution 2011; 57(3); doi: 10.1560\/IJEE.57.3.223<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Image Credits:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia: 3 ibex \/ \u05d0\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3 \u05d4\u05dc\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05df \/\/ Ibex on dam wall \/ Claudio Bedin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

other licenses: Title \u2013 Mouflon \/ shutterstock ID_1373640584 \/ Kikkia Jackson \/\/ Mouflon portrait \/ shutterstock ID_1803218089 \/ Susanne Edele \/\/ Nubian ibex \/ shutterstock ID_2225483011 \/ Luciano Santandreu \/\/ Bezoar goat \/ shutterstock ID_1426356836 \/ karpetrosian<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As livestock, sheep and goats \u2013 jointly referred to as \u00absmall livestock\u00bb \u2013 have accompanied humanity since the very beginning of human history (Gen 4:2).
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