Biblical Bestiary: Ibex

Ibex refers to several species of wild goat from the genus Capra that live in the mountainous regions of Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa. These include the Nubian ibex (Capra ibex nubiana), which was known in ancient Israel, and the West Asian ibex (Capra aegagrus), or Persian wild goat, which is the ancestor of the domestic goat. In the southern Levant, the ibex was hunted to near extinction by the early 20th century but has rebounded and is now counted in the thousands throughout the Negev and Judean deserts. Although male ibexes are easily identified by their large, semicircular, […]