Last Sunday, I was working on my computer when I was suddenly disturbed by the ringing of my mobile phone. I glanced at it impatiently and was surprised to see the area code of the caller.

“Goodness gracious!” I thought to myself. “Who could be calling me from Chitral?”

I hesitantly answered the video call and, to my utter surprise, there was a big, hairy goat on the other side of the screen.

“Hi there! I am a markhor and I wished to talk to you, if you could spare me a little time,” it said.

I was dumbfounded and sat frozen for a while. I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears, but there it was, a huge majestic animal standing precariously on the edge of a rocky cliff with its magnificent corkscrew horns glistening in the sun.

The markhor probably had stuck the phone in the rocks because, I could see him completely.

“Hello? Are you still there?” came the bleating voice.

I gathered my wits with great effort gushed ecstatically, “Oh yes! I am here! What an honour to talk to the national animal of Pakistan. How are you?”

“Quite well, thank you. In fact, a lot better now that we are off the endangered species list and in the list of Near Threatened Species issued by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Thanks to the efforts of the Wildlife Department and the local community, we are now thriving as a species.”

“This is so good to hear,” I said.

“Yes, in fact our comeback from the brink of extinction has been one of the world’s great, but little known conservation success stories. I saw a tourist reading Young World and found out that you had interviewed a mosquito, a honeybee, a housefly and even a lizard. So I have contacted you to tell your young readers about this rare victory.”

It was a rare opportunity for me to be talking to a species that was so elusive. I did not want to miss anything so I asked, “I heard that markhors live high up in the mountains and are very agile. You can jump from cliff to cliff with ease and also have very good eyesight to escape predators… so how did you become so endangered?”

“It is true we don’t have too many predators in the mountains. Our natural predators are grey wolves and snow leopards, but their population has also dwindled a lot in the past few years. Sometimes herds of markhors can get caught up in natural disasters such as avalanches, floods, land sliding and rolling stones. Our chief predators, in fact, are the human beings,” it said, with a sad expression on its face.

“It is difficult to escape the determined trophy hunters who hunt us for our long, spiralling horns and put our heads in their display cases. Locals want to kill us for our meat as we are part of the goat family and can weigh up to 200 pounds. One markhor can feed a lot of people. And as more and more forests are being cut down and human development is encroaching into our lands, we are facing shortage of habitat too. Then, there are rumours that our horns have healing properties which has made us very valuable to traditional Chinese medicine practitioners,” it said mournfully.

“Errr, do you really have healing powers?” I asked curiously.

“Our cud is widely used to cure bee stings and treat snakebites, but that is not a reason enough to kill us,” it retorted.

“No, no! Of course not” I said hurriedly. “So how did you return from the brink of extinction?”

My caller narrated, “You see, the government of Pakistan gives a limited number of licences to hunt the markhor at very high prices to trophy hunters every year. They are allowed to shoot only adult, old markhors. Shooting female markhors or baby markhors can lead to hefty fines and even imprisonment. The government gives 20 percent of the licence money to the wildlife department and the remaining 80 percent of the revenue generated by trophy hunting is given to the local communities, to build schools, mosques, health centres and give scholarships to local students.

“Hence, now the local people avoid killing us and instead take great care against illegal hunting and poaching. People here have realised that instead of killing us heedlessly in great numbers for short term profits, it is important to conserve wildlife so that their next generations can have a good future too. After all, extinct markhors can yield neither meat nor magnificent horns nor encourage foreign tourism,” it said, wagging its beard like a wise old sage.

“You are so right! So where are you commonly found in Pakistan?”

“Currently, we can be found in the Chitral, Kohistan and Kalam regions, as well as the northern Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir regions. In summer, we climb to higher altitudes, but in winter we come down to tree line to avoid sinking in heavy snow. Other than Pakistan, we are also found in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and some parts of Afghanistan. We like to live among oak, pine trees and junipers, and eat grass, shrubs, herbs and leaves.”

“I can’t see anyone with you on the screen. Do you roam around alone?” I asked.

“Yes, male markhors like to live a solitary life. We roam the rugged mountains looking for food and evade our predators by jumping from cliff to cliff. We often have hunters and poachers after us for our magnificent horns. But our female species like to live together in groups of 8-10. They raise our children till they are grown enough to leave the herd and live independently.”

“And is there any message you would like to give to our Young World readers?” I asked.

“I would like to request all young people to respect nature. When you come to northern areas or even go to coastal areas as tourists do not harm the local flora and fauna. Do not litter or leave rubbish behind. Children should also educate themselves regarding conservation and the environment. They can find child-friendly websites, such as WWF Pakistan, and see which species are endangered and what steps are being taken to revive critically endangered species in other parts of the world.

“Children need to learn to be responsible inhabitants of our Planet Earth. Above all, please take care of your forests and trees. They are important not only for our survival, but of the human race too!”

My video call ended at this point, but it left me with a lot of food for thought. I hope this interview will make our young readers realise that we have to develop respect, love and empathy for all living creatures. Whether it’s a 200kg markhor ambling along rocky cliff sides or a small earthworm wriggling in your garden, all creatures fulfil a purpose and we all need to live in harmony with nature and all its inhabitants.

Fun facts

• The name markhor comes from the Persian language and means ‘snake eater’, but markhors do not really eat snakes, as they are herbivores like goats.

• The horns of a male markhor can grow up to five feet long.

• There are three subspecies of markhors — Astor, Kabul and Bukhara — each with its own distinct shape and twist of horns.

• In winters, the hairy coat of a markhor grows long and thick while, in the summer, it sheds wool and the long hair by rubbing its body against rocks.

• Just like trees, the age of a markhor can easily be determined by counting the rings on its horns.

• Markhors can jump at least eight feet high.

• Male markhors are extremely smelly and use the strong body odour to repel predators.

• Sometimes male markhors like to fight each other by locking horns and attempting to push each other off balance, just like wrestlers in a ring.

• Markhors are very important for the ecosystem. They eat fruits and flowers and after digestion, pass on the seeds by excretion in far flung areas. The seeds then germinate and new plants grow in regions where the seeds cannot be planted by human hands. This type of seed dispersal is very important for the ecosystem.

• During days of the British Raj over the Subcontinent, the markhor was considered to be among the most challenging game species, due to the danger involved in stalking and pursuing them in high, mountainous terrain. The British military and civil officials loved to set up hunting expeditions and killed dozens of markhors during their hunting trips.

• A Pakistani animated movie, Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor, made in collaboration with WWF Pakistan, highlights the crucial issue of wildlife conservation.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 16th, 2022