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A large wild goat with spectacular corkscrew-shaped horns, found in the mountains of northern and western Pakistan.
The markhor is a wild goat of steep, rocky mountain slopes. Males have long, twisted horns that can grow well over a metre, and a shaggy beard and neck mane; females are smaller with shorter horns. Its name is often explained as Persian for 'snake-eater', from an old folk belief, although it feeds on grasses, leaves and shrubs.
Markhor live in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalayan foothills and the mountains of Balochistan. Different forms are recognized, such as the flare-horned Kashmir markhor of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan and the straight-horned Suleiman markhor of Balochistan. Chitral Gol National Park and the Torghar Hills are famous places to see them.
Hunting and habitat loss once pushed the markhor towards extinction. Community conservation programmes, in which local villages protect markhor and receive most of the income from a small number of strictly controlled trophy-hunting permits, helped numbers recover. In 2015 the IUCN improved its status from Endangered to Near Threatened.
Its strength, agility and ability to survive in harsh mountains make it a fitting symbol of Pakistan's highlands. It also appears as the emblem of Pakistani institutions and sports teams.