Alpine ibex
Alpine ibex
Alpine ibexes primarily feed on grass and are active throughout the year. Although they are social animals, adult males and females segregate for most of the year, coming together only to mate. During the breeding season, males use their long horns to fight for access to females. Ibexes have few predators but may succumb to parasites and diseases.
Alpine ibex
By the 19th century, the Alpine ibex had been extirpated from most of its range and it went through a population bottleneck of fewer than 100 individuals during its near-extinction event, leading to very low genetic diversity across populations. The species has been successfully reintroduced to parts of its historical range. All individuals living today descend from the stock in Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy. As of 2020, the IUCN lists the species as being of least concern.
Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus first described the Alpine ibex in 1758. It is classified in the genus Capra) with nine other species of goat. Capra is Latin for 'she-goat' while the species name ibex is translated from Latin as 'chamois' and is possibly derived from an earlier Alpine language.
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