Capra caucasica Guldenstadt & Pallas 1783
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Bovidae
Capra
Capra caucasica

description: 185.
Kuban Tur
Capra caucasica
French: Bouquetin du Caucase / German: Kuban-Tur / Spanish: Tur del Caucaso occidental
Other common names: Caucasian Ibex, Severtzov's Tur, West Caucasian Tur, Western Tur
Taxonomy. Capra caucasica Guldenstadt & Pallas, 1783,
Central Caucasus.
Sometimes treated as a polytypic species with Daghestan Tur (C. cylindricornis) as a subspecies. However, mtDNA data support two clades of tur with a strong differentiation of eastern (Daghestan Tur) and western (Kuban Tur) forms congruent with two species, but morphological and genetic data indicate probable hybridization of Daghestan x Kuban Tur. Monotypic.
Distribution. W Great Caucasus Mts in Georgia and Russia.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 159-196 cm (males) and 136-164 (females), tail 12-17 cm (males) and 8-14 cm (females), shoulder height 90-110 cm (males) and 78-90 cm (females); weight 123-155 kg (males) and 58-71 kg (females). Horn length 66-107 cm (males); basal horn girth 28-34 cm (males). Female horns rarely exceed 30 cm. Male horns grow upward, outward, and then backward in an arc with tips inward or outward. Horns in cross section are subtriangular, with a broad frontal surface and prominent transverse ridges in lower portion of horn. Beard length is usually longer than 12 cm and up to 18 cm, narrow and prominent. In winter, regardless of age and sex, coloration varies from grayish-brown to dirty-white. Underparts are whitish or yellowish-gray. Tail is dark brown,as are the stripes along the front of the legs and the beard in males. The rump patch is small, narrow, and whitish. Summer coats in males and females are brighter, ranging from reddish-gray to reddish-chestnut. Dimorphic coloration is not conspicuous. Diploid chromosome number is 60.
Habitat. The Kuban Tur occurs in steep terrain with cliffs and valleys, rocky, broken terrain associated with meadows, and subalpine and alpine montane zones at elevations of 1000-3300 m. West Caucasusis rather humid, with rainy summers and snowy winters, especially on the southern slopes. Kuban Tur avoid forested areas of spruce and fir, occurring only in sparse pine stands; they rarely winter on the southern, Georgian, slope. Annual mortality is about 10%. In Teberda Nature Reserve, Kuban Tur remains were found in 46% of Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) droppings annually, the proportion rising to 70% in winter-spring. Annual loss due to wolf predation is about 4% of the population. Wolf predation might be higher, because these data were collected during periods of low wolf numbers. In the Caucasus Nature Reserve, the proportion of Kuban Tur remains in wolf droppings is considerably lower (about 23%), probably due to an abundance of Western Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), the main wolf prey. Eurasian Lynxes (Lynx lynx) probably prey principally on young animals and females, but they are not predators because they occur in low numbers. Large birds of prey occasionally successfully hunt newborn kids. Additional mortality of Kuban Tur is due to poaching; legal hunting is limited. In Teberda, mortality due to illegal hunting rose from 1-4% (of all animals found dead) in 1986-1990 to 21-6% in 1996-2000. Snow avalanches are a major mortality factor. On average, nine Kuban Tur were killed annually by avalanches on 10 km? of wintering areas in the Caucasus Nature Reserve, about 3% of the total population. In Kabardin-Balkaria, 10-25 Kuban Tur were found dead at a single avalanche site, and the total annual mortality was estimated at no less than 4% of the population. In Teberda, mortality is about 4-6% and avalanches are supposedly responsible for 30-85% of adult tur mortality. However,these latter estimates are based on undocumented data. Avalanches are probably not a major mortality factor except in winters with abnormally high snow accumulation.
Food and Feeding. Kuban Tur consume over 150 plant species. Grasses (Bromus, Festuca, Alopecurus, Phleum) are forage sources, but diets vary annually. Kuban Tur also eat different plant parts in different months. In May-June, they feed on the entire plant. In July-August, they select buds and blossoms, the most nutritious parts. In winter, the animals often browse on pine, spruce, and willow. In summer, raw contents of female stomachs weigh 5.5-5 kg; male stomachs weigh 7-8 kg. In winter, stomachs of females weigh up to 8-10 kg and those of males weigh 13-14 kg. Grasses comprise 80-90% of stomach contents in summer and up to 70% in winter. During winter, tur consume over 70% of phytomass on their pastures. The Kuban Tur often visits natural salt licks, mostly in late spring to beginning of summer. Kids start salt-licking before the age of one month.
Breeding. Mating occurs principally in November-December. Males delay mating activity until six years of age. Males defend a single estrous female and prevent other males from mating with the guarded female. Females bear their first young at age three years or even four. Gestation lasts 165-175 days. Kids are born in May-June, but births occur as late as August. In Caucasus Nature Reserve, during 40 consecutive years, young of the year comprised about 13% (7-18%) of the population in a given year. In Teberda Nature Reserve, young of the year comprised 11% (7-16%).
Activity patterns. In winter, Kuban Tur usually feed during the day, with peaks at 05:00 11:00 h and 17:00-19:00 h. In summer, there are feeding peaks at 03:00-09:00 h and 15:00-21:00 h. Kuban Tur become highly nocturnal when hunted or if they have to share pastures with livestock. During harsh weather, they seek shelter in overhanging cliffs and rock outcrops.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Detailed movements studies have not been conducted. Some herds move 10-12 km from one mountain to another. Wintering areas can encompass 0-08-5-5 km? summer areas encompass 0-02—1-9 km?®. Kuban Tur can be highly gregarious, with herds of 100-300 individuals in high-density populations. In populations of several thousand, herds usually have 11-20 animals. Individuals may interchange between herds. Population densities are 3-6 ind/km* in populations of 1300-2700 animals. In the early 1960s, when there were 12,000 Kuban Tur in the Caucasus Nature Reserve, winter habitat consisted of about one-third of the summer habitat above timberline in the reserve; consequently, the population density was greater than 44 ind/km? in winter and only 13 ind/km? in summer habitat.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Its range is only about 250 km in length and a maximum width of 70 km, the smallest range of any species of Capra. The Kuban Tur is protected in several nature reserves and national parks, but their numbers on the southern slope of the Main Range in Georgia are minimal. Ritsa Protected Area, which borders the Caucasus Nature Reserve, is devoid of Kuban Tur. Despite listings in regional red data books and occurring in a number of protected areas, Kuban Tur underwent a considerable, and even catastrophic, decline in the late 1980s—1990s due to uncontrolled hunting. In Teberda Nature Reserve, the population dropped from 1750 animals in 1982 to 1000 in 2000, and in Caucasus Nature Reserve, it declined from 10,000 -12,000 in the first one-half of 1970s to about 4000-6000 in 1980s, and then to about 3000. Kuban Tur numbers outside protected areas are low, even minimal. Currently, there are a total of about 5000-6000 Kuban Tur. Poaching is a major threat because of lax enforcement of game laws. It was probably extirpated in two nature reserves in Georgia. The largest number occurs on the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus in Russia. Additional threats include competition with livestock and human disturbance. There is an urgent need for additional protected areas with adequately trained personnel to monitor populations and prevent poaching.
Bibliography. Baskin & Danell (2003), Bobyr, G.Y. (1997, 1999), Bobyr, K.G. & Semyonov (2008) Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1966), Groves & Grubb (2011), Grubb (2005), Heptner et al. (1988), Kotov (1968), Kudaktin (1998), Lydekker (1898), Romashin (2001), Valdez (1985), Weinberg (2008), Weinberg, Akkiev & Buchukuri (In Press), Weinberg, Valdez & Fedosenko (1997), Zalikhanov (1967), Zalkin (1955), Zvychainaya (2009).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, pp. 444-779 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 680, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6512484