According to a recent research paper, titled ‘Genetic evidence for allopatric speciation of the Siberian Ibex (Capra sibirica) in India,’ Himalayan Ibex is a distinct species from the Siberian Ibex. The research paper by the scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) was published in Endangered Species Research, an international peer-reviewed journal.
The study was done under a project funded through the National Mission on Himalayan Studies implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
About Himalayan Ibex
Ibex are wild goats that live in the mountainous regions of Europe, north central Asia and northern Africa. Ibex are herbivores; they only eat vegetation, such as shrubs, bushes and grasses
In India, the Himalayan Ibex is distributed mainly in the trans-Himalayan ranges of the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh up to the river Sutlej.
Siberian Ibex is distributed in diverse habitats, ranging from cold deserts, rocky outcrops, steep terrain, high-land flats and mountain ridges to low mountains and foothills.
References
- The Hindu-Himalayan Ibex a distinct species
- Live Science-Facts About Ibex
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