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Sindh Ibex

Sindh Ibex are rather stocky animals with thick-set bodies and strong limbs terminating in broad hooves. Mature males are spectacularly beautiful, with long sweeping scimitar shaped horns and almost silver white bodies offset by a sooty grey chest, throat and face. The extent of white hairs in the hind neck and body region of males increases with age. The hair in summer coat is short and coarse and even in adult males is more reddish-buff in color. Males have short beards, but females lack any beard. The belly and outside of the lower limbs, beard and forepart of the face vary from black to deep chestnut-brown in mature males. There is also a conspicuous black stripe in adult males, running from the withers down the front of the shoulders and merging with the black chest. Older males have a dark face pattern. The horns are strongly keeled in front, sweeping upwards and outwards with the tips generally diverging. The average horn length is 37-38 inches.

Sindh Ibex have a wonderful sense of balance and can make a standing leap 5–6 feet upwards on a seemingly vertical rock surface. They appear almost slow and deliberate when traversing rock faces but can slide without injury down almost perpendicular rock faces with drops as much as 18 feet. When challenging another male, they frequently stand up on their hind legs and at the same time bend their head to one side before charging forward and clashing their horns.

Hunting takes place in the famed Dureji game management area in southern Pakistan, 93 miles north of Karachi. A 3 hour drive on a mostly dirt road will get you to camp and the hunting grounds. The area is traditionally known for its abundance of wildlife. The highest point in the area is 3,000 feet, while most of the hunting takes place at the altitude of 600-2,100 feet.

Hunters stay in one of the guest houses built by the family that ruled the area for many centuries. It is one of the most luxurious hunting accommodations in Pakistan.