Capra cylindricornis
Nika Paposhvili · Lagodekhi Georgia field photo
The East Caucasian tur (Capra cylindricornis) is a large wild goat of the cattle family. It is easiest to recognize by its heavy body, relatively short legs and the big horns of adult males. A male's horn is unlike a wild goat's: rather than just sweeping back like a scimitar, it forms a more open spiral. In Georgia it lives mainly in the high mountains of the eastern Greater Caucasus and is known from Tusheti, Khevsureti, the Kazbegi area and the Lagodekhi part of the Caucasus. Globally, it is close to qualifying as threatened. Georgia's 2014 Red List includes it as a vulnerable species under the name Daghestan tur.
Identification
The East Caucasian tur is a large wild goat with a heavy body and short legs. Adult males carry big horns that curve in an open spiral. In Georgia it lives mainly in the high, rocky mountains of the eastern Greater Caucasus. You can tell it from the Wild goat by its horns: the Wild goat's horns sweep further back, like a sickle.
Males are much larger and heavier than females. An adult male's body may be about 190 cm long, a female's about 138 cm. A male stands up to 104 cm at the shoulder and weighs up to 140 kg. A female reaches 85 cm at the shoulder and 56 kg in weight. These figures describe the species in general, not a population measured separately in Georgia.
Male horns are rounded at the base. They grow upward and outward, then curve downward and inward to form an open spiral. Females have much shorter horns. Adult males have a short beard. Coat colour changes with the season, from dark brown to lighter, rusty-brown tones. Females and young animals are usually a more uniform brownish colour.
The wild goat is a different species of wild goat. Adult males have long horns that sweep farther back, like a scimitar. The East Caucasian tur is more heavily built, and the male's horns form an open spiral. The chamois (Rupicapra) is much smaller, with short, hooked horns. The European roe deer and red deer are not goats but members of the deer family. Their males grow new antlers every year, while the tur has the permanent horns typical of goats.
In the wild, it is easiest to recognize by its large size, heavy goat-like body and, in adult males, open-spiralled horns. The setting helps too, because it lives in rocky high-mountain terrain. It is not venomous.
In Georgia, the East Caucasian tur lives in the high, rocky mountains of the Greater Caucasus. It is found on alpine and subalpine meadows, scree, inaccessible slopes and in gorges. It especially favours rugged, hard-to-cross terrain, safe slopes close to cliffs and places where it is disturbed relatively little. Its whole range covers the eastern Greater Caucasus: Georgia, Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus of Russia. Even so, it is not spread evenly across every high-mountain region of Georgia. In Tusheti, the tur's summer range covers about 330 km² and stretches from about 2,800 m up to the highest peaks. Most animals stay in the zone of permanent snow and just below it, in places that are hard to reach. In summer the tur may be seen less often on alpine meadows, because sheep are grazed heavily there.
The East Caucasian tur feeds on plants. It eats grass, other herbaceous plants of high mountain meadows, leaves, shoots and low shrubs. What it eats changes with the season and the place. In winter it may move to lower or less snowy slopes, if snow cover and human disturbance do not prevent it.
The East Caucasian tur is active by day, though in the hot season it often spends the midday hours in relatively sheltered spots. Across its range, the mating season falls mainly in December–January. The young are born in late spring. These data refer to the whole range, not to a full calendar for a specific Georgian population. Group make-up changes with the season and with sex. Females form separate groups with their young, while young males gather together. Adult males are often seen alone or with other males. If you find cloven hoofprints, they may belong to a tur. Telling the species reliably from tracks alone, however, is difficult.
In the 2020 global assessment, the East Caucasian tur is close to being threatened. Georgia’s 2014 Red List goes further and lists it, under the name Daghestan tur, as Vulnerable. In the Tusheti Protected Landscape, the local tur population is estimated at about 750 animals and is considered stable. This is a local figure, not a current count for all of Georgia. The main threats are illegal hunting, overgrazing by livestock on high mountain meadows, the breaking up of its habitat into separate pieces, and disturbance by people. In some places, tourism, helicopters and ski facilities may also have a significant impact. The tur especially favours rugged, hard-to-reach and less disturbed ground close to cliffs.
Nika Melikishvili · Nika Paposhvili
Related guides
Yes, but not everywhere in Georgia. The East Caucasian tur lives in the high mountains of the eastern Greater Caucasus. It is known from Tusheti, Khevsureti, the Kazbegi area and the Lagodekhi part of the Caucasus. To see it, you need to go up into the high mountains of these areas.
Your best chance of seeing it is on high, rocky slopes in the alpine and subalpine zones, and even then only from a distance. In Tusheti it spends the summer from about 2,800 m up to the highest peaks. Getting close to a group is not worth it: it disturbs the animals, and on rocky slopes it raises the risk for you too.
Adult males have large horns that curve in an open spiral, a heavy body and relatively short legs. Wild goat horns curve backward more like a sickle. Chamois is much smaller, with short, hooked horns. So you can tell it from a wild goat by the shape of the horns, and from a chamois by size and horns.
An adult male may stand up to about 104 cm at the shoulder and weigh up to about 140 kg. Females are smaller: about 85 cm at the shoulder and up to 56 kg.
It eats plants. It feeds on grasses, leaves, shoots and low shrubs, and its food changes with the season and the place. It is not a predator and does not hunt other animals.
No. The East Caucasian tur is not venomous and does not see people as prey. The risk comes mainly when you get too close on a rocky slope, chase the animal or let a dog loose at it. So watch from a distance, do not follow it and keep your dog back.
Yes. The East Caucasian tur is listed as a vulnerable species on Georgia’s Red List. Globally, it is close to being threatened. Illegal hunting is one of its main threats.
References
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
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