Game animalsGame is any animal hunted for food or not

normally domesticated.

Game animals are also hunted for sport or they are hunted for their high economical value.

1.Markhor

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Subfamily: Caprinae

Genus: Capra

Species: C. falconeri

Binomial name

Capra falconeri

Classification

Cause of nameThe colloquial name is thought by some to be

derived from the Persian word mar, meaning snake, and khor, meaning "eater", which is sometimes interpreted ……

To either represent the species' ability to kill snakes

OR As a reference to its corkscrewing horns as of coiling snakes.

According to folklore , the markhor has the ability to kill a snake and eat it.

Thereafter, while chewing the cud, a foam-like substance comes out of its mouth which drops on the ground and dries.

This foam-like substance is sought after by the local people, who believe it is useful in extracting snake poison from snake bitten wounds.

Local name of markhorPersian, Punjabi, Urdu and Kashmiri: مارخور markhor

Pashto: مرغومی marǧūmay

Distribution

It is a large species of wild goat that is found in northeastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan and northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), some parts of Azad Kashmir and Indian Kashmir, southern Tajikistan and southern Uzbekistan.

The species is Endangered, as there are fewer than 2,500 mature individuals and the numbers have continued to decline by an estimated 20% over two generations. The markhor is the national animal of Pakistan

Physical descriptionSize = 132 to 186 cm in length Weight = From 32 to 110 kilograms.

Colour

The coat is light brown to black colour, and is smooth and short in summer, while growing longer and thicker in winter.

The fur of the lower legs is black and white. Males have longer hair on the chin, throat, chest and shanks. Females are redder in colour, with shorter hair, a short black beard, and are maleness.

Both sexes have tightly curled, corkscrew-

like horns, which close together at the head,

but spread upwards toward the tips.

The horns of males can grow up to 64 inches

long, and up to 10 inches in females.

They have a pungent smell.

BehaviourMarkhor are adapted to mountainous area,

and can be found between 600 and 3,600 meters in elevation.

HuntingIn British India, markhor were considered to

be among the most challenging game

species, due to the danger involved in

stalking and pursuing them in high,

mountainous terrain.

In Pakistan it is endangered and its hunting

is illegal

In India, markhor are still hunted for food near the Pakistani border.

They are still hunted for food and for their horns, which are thought to have medicinal properties, in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Conservation statusThe International Union for the Conservation of

Nature and Natural Resources has classified the markhor as an endangered species, meaning it is in danger of facing extinction in the near future if conservation efforts are not maintained.

2. Himalayan Goral

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Genus: Naemorhedus

Species: N. Goral

Binomial name

Naemorhedus goral

Characteristics37 to 51 inches in length and weighs 35–42 kg

It has a gray or gray-brown coat with tan legs, lighter patches on its throat, and a single dark stripe along its spine.

Males have short manes on their necks. Both males and females have backward-curving horns which can grow up to 18 cm in length.

Distribution and habitatHimalayan gorals are found in the forests of the

Himalayas including Bhutan, northern India, Nepal, southern Tibet, and possibly western Myanmar.

They inhabit most of the southern slopes of the Himalayas from Jammu and Kashmir to eastern Arunachal Pradesh.

In India and Nepal they are present at elevations from 900 to 2,750 m In Pakistan they have been recorded from 1,000 to 4,000 m altitude but their present occurrence in Punjab is doubtful.

Range of habitate Group home range size is typically around 40 ha

(0.40 km2), with males occupying marked territories of 22–25 ha (0.22–0.25 km2) during the mating season.

In Pakistan, a minimum of 370–1017 grey goral are distributed in seven isolated populations as of 2004.

Ecology and behavior

The animal is crepuscular, being most active in the early morning and late evening.

After a morning meal, it often drinks and then rests on a rock ledge through the day. It feeds on leaves and associated softer parts of plants, mainly grasses.

The Himalayan goral is very agile and can run quickly.

Due to its coloration it is very well camouflaged, so that it is extremely difficult to sight it, especially since it spends much of the day lying still.

However, it is hunted by various predators. When threatened, the Himalayan goral will vocalize with hissing or sneezing sounds.

Himalayan goral can live for 14 or 15 years.

The female gives birth after a gestation period of 170-218 days, usually to a single offspring.

The young are weaned at 7 or 8 months of age and reach sexual maturity at around 3 years.

ConservationNaemorhedus goral is listed in CITES Appendix I.

In Pakistan, it is listed as an endangered species.