The Karakoram Highway is surely the most visually spectacular major road, anywhere.
On 20 May 2024, we were proceeding along part of it, en route from Gilgit to the Hunza Valley.
At 11.26 am – circa one hour out of Gilgit – the pictured sign welcomed us to the “home” of Pakistan’s national animal.
The markhor is often described as the world’s largest wild goat.
In terms of average body mass and length, that claim is probably incorrect.
However, an “average” male markhor’s shoulder height exceeds all other goats’ “average” shoulders
So, Capra falconeri probably is the world’s most imposing goat.
As is true of most alpine mammals, markhors know how to render themselves “invisible”, their total population is small, and they tend to stay well clear of busy roads.
We saw the sign, we were given a markhor fridge magnet, but we never saw an actual markhor!
Click here to see what we missed, and to discover more about markhors.
May 24 2024 was the very first (annual) International Day of the Markhor, as recently proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.