Markhor - Relationship With The Domestic Goat - Hunting

Hunting

In British India, markhor were considered to be among the most challenging game species, due to the danger involved in stalking and pursuing them in high, mountainous terrain. According to Arthur Brinckman, in his The Rifle in Cashmere," a man who is a good walker will never wish for any finer sport than ibex or markhoor shooting". Elliot Roosevelt wrote of how he shot two markhor in 1881, his first on the 8th of July, his second in the 1st of August. Although it is illegal to hunt markhor in Afghanistan, they have been traditionally hunted in Nuristan and Laghman, and this may have intensified during the War in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, hunting markhor is illegal. However recently, as part of a conservation process, limited expensive hunting licenses are available from the Pakistani government which allow for the hunting of old markhors which are no longer good for breeding purposes. The funds from the licensing process are invested back in the conservation projects. In India, markhor are still hunted for food near the Pakistani border. They are still hunted for food and for their horns, which are thought to have medicinal properties, in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Markhor have also been successfully introduced to private game ranches in Texas. Unlike the auodad, blackbuck, nilgai, ibex, and axis deer, however, markhor have not escaped in sufficient numbers to establish free-range wild populations in Texas.