North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Persian ibex

Capra aegagrus · Introduced/exotic big game · Big game

Persian ibex (Capra aegagrus): About 30 in (76 cm) at the shoulder, hindquarters noticeably higher than the front on flat ground. Mature males up to about 110 lb, females up to about 60 lb; both sexes grow horns (female horns average up to 15 in), male scimitar-shaped horns can exceed 50 in. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the persian ibex map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Capra aegagrus
Family
Bovidae
In North America
Introduced
Range
Native from Turkey and the Caucasus east to Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In North America, introduced to the Florida Mountains near Deming, New Mexico in 1970.
Biology

How to identify it

About 30 in (76 cm) at the shoulder, hindquarters noticeably higher than the front on flat ground. [1][2][3]

Mature males up to about 110 lb, females up to about 60 lb; both sexes grow horns (female horns average up to 15 in), male scimitar-shaped horns can exceed 50 in. [1][2][3]

Light brown in summer; as the rut approaches mature males turn almost white ('white billies') with darkened leg markings, a black-brown cross over shoulders and back, dark face and jet-black beard and tail. [1][2][3]

Compared with the feral goat: Wild goat is the ancestor of domestic goats; the sources read give no field mark separating the wild form from feral goats. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a persian ibex before you act. Compared with the feral goat: Wild goat is the ancestor of domestic goats; the sources read give no field mark separating the wild form from feral goats.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Steep, rocky terrain and cliffs (hooves are adapted to it); the New Mexico population lives in the Florida Mountains near Deming. Native habitat is forest, shrubland and rocky areas up to about 3,250 m in Turkey. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Hooves have a soft inner pocket ringed by a hard rim for clinging to rock; can jump several times their own height [1][2][3]

Keen eyesight, notice movement more than half a mile away [1][2][3]

Typically do not move much during the night [1][2][3]

Seasonal breeding: females bear one to three young in early summer (Pakistan observations) [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Native from Turkey and the Caucasus east to Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In North America, introduced to the Florida Mountains near Deming, New Mexico in 1970.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. New Mexico Department of Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    New Mexico Department of Wildlife

  2. BIOLOGICALWild goat

    Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia

  3. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe