Markhor National Animal of Pakistan

The national animal of Pakistan is Markhor. The Markhor is very unique and endangered specie which is as beautiful as ever. The name of Markhor is being derived from two Persian words Mar which means Snake and Khor which means eating. This is very controversial name because generally Markhor are vegetarian so they dont eat snake but this might be denoted as snake killer as they have hard feats and corkscrewing horns to do so. Markhor are found in the Northern areas of Pakistan Gilgit Batistan and in Balochistan. In Local languages name of Pakistan Markhor is Reedakh , boom mayaro , rezkuh , pachin , youksh and shara, Markhor stand 26 to 25 inches at the shoulder, 52 to 73 inches in length and weigh from 30 to 110 kilograms. The markhor is currently labeled as near threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a total population of less than 10,000 worldwide.

Beautiful Markhor from Pakistan

The habitat of Markhor is on the top of the highest mountains, almost between 600 to 3,600 meters in elevation. They typically inhabit scrub forests made up primarily of oaks, pines, and junipers where there is plenty for the Markhor to eat. They are found in the Northern areas of Pakistan like Gilgit Baltistan, Neelam Valley Kashmir, Chitral, Hunza Valley, Kalash Valley and also in Quetta. Markhor is herbivorous animal that primarily grazes on a variety of vegetations including grasses, leaves, herbs, fruits and flowers. Like other wild goats, the markhor plays a valuable role within their ecosystem as they chew the leaves from the low lying trees, spreading the seeds in their dun.