Markhor Markhor The markhor ("Capra falconeri"; "marǧūmi"; Persian/Urdu: ), also known as the screw horn goat, is a large species of wild goat that is found in northeastern Afghanistan, northern and central Pakistan, India(only Jammu & Kashmir), southern Tajikistan, eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan and in the Himalayas. The species was classed by the IUCN as Endangered until 2015 when it was downgraded to Near Threatened, as their numbers have increased in recent years by an estimated 20% for the last decade. The markhor is the national animal of Pakistan. The colloquial name is thought by some to be derived from the
Unclean animal animals" explicitly named in the Qur'an. If someone converts to Islam, Allah "allows them as lawful what is good and prohibits them from what is bad; he releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that were upon them". For other animals, great importance is given to the manner of its death: forbidden are blood and carrion ("dead meat"), and any animal that has been "killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death". Also forbidden is any animal that has been eaten by a wild animal, unless