International Day of the Markhor

 Markhor have solid and nearly short legs with expansive hooves. Its fur color is varied with regions and it is from reddish brown to grayish brown or dim. Adult male sizes are between 99-104 cm at the shoulder and total body length is 132- 185 cm. Females are much smaller than males . These animals are diurnal in feeding habits and found very active at early morning and late evening during the summer, however in winter they feed discontinuously during the day. When the ground is covered in snow, Markhor graze mostly on the leaves of oak trees , whereas throughout the summer they consume more forbs and grasses . This showed feeding habits and food priorities are changed with the season and accessibility. The mating season begins in late October and continues till early December. The development gestation period is approximately 160 to 170 days.

The data in two years (2015-2017) have been collected for Astor Markhor from five different districts of  Gilgit Baltistan. An enumeration of 1087 animal species in 15 community controlled hunting areas have been found . It includes 24%, 36% 21% and 19% males, females, youngsters and toddlers respectively. Generally, provinces contain a total population growth of about 0.13 animals per kilometer.  The population growth and density of Markhor species in several areas was recorded, rstly kargah became at the peak point having 211 species, then Bunji having 187 number of species. There are 119 species in doyan, 75 range in sakwar-jutial-barmas and 74 in tangir area etc. In Pakistan, there are a total ve subspecies of Markhor. One subspecies is so-called as chiltan Markhor commonly known as wild goat. Remaining four subspecies are straight horned Markhor (SHM) such as Kabul and Suleiman Marhor and two are horned Markhor (FHM) as Astor and Kashmir Markhor. A total number of FHM wa...

 In comparison to other Capra members, Markhor is a goat with low heights, existing between 700 and 1000 m along the Suleiman range's lower slopes. However, in winter they reached up to 2700 m and in summer upto 4000 m in Chitral valley . It leans toward regions with abrupt slants and bluffs getting little precipitation. A provisional distribution of Markhor species has shown in Figure 1. Number of Markhor in Pakistan  In the Chitral Division, there are over 800-1000 Markhor. Review reports indicated that the Swat, Chitral, and Dir Kohistan Divisions included 1400 Markhor. The IUCN declared all Markhor subspecies to be endangered in 1996. People are the essential hunters of the Markhor. Since Markhor occupies exceptionally steep and difficult to reach hilly territory, a few fortresses of Markhor species often approached by humans, Eurasian lynx, Snow leopards, Wolves, Black bear are predators of Markhor.  Importance of Markhor  Markhor as national animal have cultur...

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed May 24th the International Day of the Markhor, Resolution A/RES/78/278 , and we celebrated it for the first time in 2024. We invite all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, namely the United Nations Environment Programme, other international and regional organizations, civil society, non-governmental organizations, individuals and other relevant stakeholders to observe the International Day of the Markhor , as appropriate. We also invite all relevant stakeholders to give due consideration to enhancing international and regional cooperation in support of efforts to conserve the markhor , given its role in the overall ecosystem.