Courtesy of Wirecutter, we find this wonderful photograph of a ram on a mountainside. Click it for a larger image.
I've no idea what species that is. Can anyone tell us? As Wirecutter points out, that picture must have been taken with a telephoto lens from outside rifle range, because the ram doesn't seem worried at all. With horns like that, he's bound to have been hunted before, so his lack of nerves says he's not afraid of the cameraman.
I'd call that the wildlife shot of a lifetime . . .
Peter
8 comments:
It's an ibex. Subspecies and localisation, I could not say. Perhaps an alpine ibex.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_ibex
If you go to the Merlet animal park near Chamonix (in the summer), you can see quite a few such in the wild from fairly close up and the picture could have been taken there as there are similar vistas - there are also some small caves where they like to lay down and there you can literally close within a feet of them, though carefully. The park has stunning views of Mont-Blanc and is easily accessible by car (and a 3/4 mile hike since all non-handicapped parking is about that far) or by a steeper hike from the train station below.
As the above commenter mentioned, they are Ibex or Bouquetin in French
http://www.chamonix.net/english/leisure/zoos/merlet-animal-park
"Don't just stand there, idiot. Put the camera down and throw me a $#!*ing rope!"
You have to wonder how he can negotiate those cliffs with such horns!
How do hunters retrieve their animal after they shoot it ? I'd be terrified myself. I think the smug look on the animal's face above agrees with me as well. :^)
Magnificent scenery I will grant you.
looks like an ibex
Ibex, probably one of the Spanish varieties.
Anon 4:33
I have hunted Mountain Goats and you do not shoot one you can't recover. That Ibex is safe because you can't get to him if he falls.
Gerrt
Smug expression is right! When was the last time someone shot an alpine ibex? He knows he has nothing to fear from us. By the way, ibex (ibexes? ibexen?) do sometimes fall to their death. Mountain-climbing is hazardous!
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