Ibex on the Cliffs: Context Clues

The Alpine Ibex

1High in the Alps, the tall mountains of Europe, lives a wild goat called the Alpine ibex. An adult male has long, curved horns with bumpy ridges, while a female's horns are much shorter. Ibex spend much of their lives on rocky slopes far above the forests, and some of those slopes are sheer cliffs. The cliffs are so sheer that they look like the walls of tall buildings, and human climbers need ropes to go up them. Ibex walk across them without any ropes at all.

2How do ibex manage it? Part of the answer is in their hooves. Each hoof has a hard outer edge and a softer, rubbery pad in the middle. The pad grips the rock and gives the hoof traction, so an ibex does not slide, even on smooth stone.

3Ibex are also very nimble. Unlike a hiker, who moves slowly and tests each step before trusting it, an ibex is quick and light on its feet. It leaps from one narrow ledge to the next without stopping. Within days of being born, young ibex, called kids, are already hopping across the rocks behind their mothers.

4The cliffs also keep ibex safe. Wolves hunt ibex, and on a flat, open meadow a young kid is vulnerable, because a wolf can catch it there with ease. High on a steep ledge, the same kid is much safer. That is why ibex head for the cliffs when a wolf is near. Most wolves keep their distance from such steep rock, because one wrong step could send them tumbling.

5Finding food changes with the seasons. Ibex eat grasses and other small plants. In winter, deep snow buries much of the grass, so food becomes scarce, and the ibex must search hard for every bite. In spring, by contrast, fresh grass is abundant. The melting snow uncovers whole meadows of green shoots, and every ibex can eat its fill.

6Ibex also crave salt. Just as a child might drag a chair across the kitchen to reach a cookie jar on a high shelf, an ibex will climb a steep stone wall just to lick the salt and minerals from its surface. In some places, people have spotted ibex standing on the nearly straight-up wall of a dam, licking the stones.

7Long ago, the Alpine ibex almost disappeared. Hunters killed so many ibex that their numbers dwindled until only one small group was left, in a corner of northern Italy. People then passed laws to protect the last ibex. As a result, the group grew larger year after year. Today, herds of ibex live in many parts of the Alps.