Nikolai Leonov, a sports hunter, shared his experience that happened last year during a hunt. He was capturing picturesque landscapes when he suddenly found himself face to face with an ibex. “It was a young ibex; judging by its horns, it was about five years old. It approached me closely and, initially taken aback, quickly realized the danger, whistled, and hurried away. I had heard before that mountain ibexes whistle, but I didn’t take it seriously until I experienced it myself,” he said.
Ecologist Alexander Sosnovsky confirmed that ibexes are indeed capable of making whistling sounds. “These mountain goats use whistles for communication in high-altitude conditions, where they inhabit altitudes from 2500 to 4500 meters above sea level. In conditions of thin air and strong winds, whistling turns out to be the most effective way to transmit signals. Interestingly, different ibexes have their own unique whistles,” he noted.
