Козерог: зверь, который ходит по вертикальной стене. Как — спорят до сих пор

Summary

The video describes the Alpine ibex, a mountain goat adapted to steep terrain, and the pressures it has faced from harsh winters, hunting, and climate change.

Climbing and salt

Female ibex and their young climb the near-vertical Chingina Dam in the Italian Alps to lick mineral salts deposited on the concrete. The video links this behavior to a shortage of sodium and calcium in high-altitude forage, nutrients that are especially important for pregnant and nursing females. Adult males rarely make the climb; their large horns are said to shift their balance on the wall.

Specialized anatomy

Each hoof has two independently controlled toes. A hard outer edge catches on tiny surface irregularities, while a softer, rough pad presses against the surface to increase grip. Small rear dewclaws can help with traction on steep descents.

The ibex’s horizontally elongated pupils and wide field of view help it scan the horizon. Its eyes can rotate as its head tilts, keeping the pupils aligned with the horizon. The video also describes unusually small, numerous red blood cells as an adaptation for oxygen uptake at altitude.

Young ibex

Females give birth on inaccessible ledges. Newborns can stand soon after birth and quickly follow their mothers across narrow terrain.

Winter energy conservation

Telemetry research cited in the video found that heart rate falls from about 100 beats per minute in summer to just over 40 in midwinter. The video also reports seasonal reductions in the size of the digestive organs, liver, and kidneys, followed by regrowth in spring.

At night, ibex cool down. At dawn, they may stand in sunlight to warm themselves without expending energy through shivering.

Breeding and survival

Males clash during the winter rut, but the video says hierarchy is often established earlier in summer, reducing serious fights. It identifies avalanches as a major winter danger.

Horns as a climate record

Ibex horns grow throughout life, and seasonal changes leave growth marks. Measurements of thousands of horns were used to relate growth patterns to Alpine weather and the timing of spring. The video distinguishes finer annual marks from more conspicuous ridges, which may form more than once in a season.

Near-extinction and recovery

Ibex were heavily hunted for supposed medicinal products, including a cross-shaped bone that can form near the heart. By the 1820s, the video says, fewer than a hundred remained in the Gran Paradiso area. Protection there helped the population recover.

In 1906, Swiss zoologists employed poachers to smuggle young ibex across the border. Fifty-nine were reportedly transported and raised by domestic goats. The video attributes today’s Alpine population—given as more than 50,000—to those survivors.

Genetic bottleneck

Research discussed in the video suggests that the severe population bottleneck removed some lethal mutations, while other mildly harmful mutations accumulated.

The Pyrenean ibex

The related bucardo became extinct after its last known animal, Celia, died in 2000. Researchers had preserved tissue from her. In 2003, an attempt to clone her produced a live kid, but it died after about seven minutes because of a congenital lung abnormality.

Warming and changing activity

The video reports that warmer conditions and earlier springs are creating overheating risks for ibex in their winter coats. A 13-year study using GPS collars and accelerometers found a shift toward nighttime activity among monitored animals, including in areas where wolves had returned. This may reduce heat exposure but increase the danger of encountering predators.

The video also notes that Siberian ibex are an important prey species for snow leopards.

Researchers and sources mentioned

• Banks and colleagues — 2015 paper in Science Advances on eye movement and horizon alignment.
• Signer, Ruf, and Arnold — telemetry studies cited on seasonal physiology and heart rate.
• Willisch and Neuhaus — research cited on ibex social hierarchy and rutting behavior.
• Ulf Böngen and colleagues — analysis of horn growth patterns and climate records.
• Grossen and colleagues — research in Nature Communications on the genetic effects of the ibex population bottleneck.
• Italian researchers, not named in the subtitles — 2024 study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B using GPS collars and accelerometers to track activity.
• Alberto Fernández-Arias — biologist who preserved Celia’s tissue for the bucardo cloning attempt.

Historical figures and places mentioned: Victor Emmanuel II, Gran Paradiso, and the Peter and Paul Zoo in St. Gallen.