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may be with them. In areas of suitable habitat they may reach quite
high densities and several animals may be in sight when feeding,
which is usually at its peak in the cooler morning and afternoon hours
during summer. During the spring and summer, both sexes defend
a territory against members of the same sex. Mating takes place in
summer, but ewes can store the fertilized egg for about four months
and births occur in spring. This is the only ungulate with this ability.
The ewes frequently give birth to twins, but also to single fawns and
rarely three. The fawns weigh less than 2 kg at birth.
Distribution and Status Roe Deer once lived in the wooded hills
along the eastern Mediterranean, but are probably extinct there now.
They have been reintroduced to one reserve in Jordan. They still occur
in scattered populations in Turkey, with perhaps some surviving in
northern Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan. In Iran they survive in the forests
of the Alborz Range along the Caspian, and possibly in the extreme
north-west borderlands.
Conservation Areas Several in the Alborz Range (Iran); Zubiya WR
(Jordan).
GOATS
CHAMOIS Rupicapra rupicapra
Identification Only one subspecies of the Chamois – the Anatolian
or Turkish Chamois (R. r. asiatica) – occurs in the region. This has a
somewhat goat-like appearance, with a very short, dark-coloured tail.
The summer coat is brownish; the winter coat is darker brown. There
are distinctive black bands on the sides of the face, a broad white blaze
from between the horns to the nose, and white from the lower jaw on
to the throat. Slender black horns (15–20 cm) with strongly hooked
tips are carried by both sexes.
Size Shoulder height 75–80 cm.
Weight 3 0–50 kg.
Habitat and Behaviour The Chamois is a species of high mountains
that occupies steep slopes and adjacent forested terrain. It is very
agile in broken rock and steep scree-slope areas, and even on uneven
ground; it can reach speeds of up to 50 km per hour. It feeds on a
variety of herbs, grasses, lichens, mosses and young tree shoots,
especially those of pines. The diet may vary from summer to winter.
The behaviour of the little-studied Anatolian race of Chamois is
probably similar to that of animals living in the European Alps. Ewes
and their young usually form into herds of 15–30 individuals. Adult
males outside the mating season are mostly solitary. During the
autumn rut dominant males drive other rams away. Fights can be
vicious and may result in the death of one of the combatants. Lambs
weighing 2–3 kg are born in the summer months after a gestation of
170 days.