Markhor (Capra falconeri)

[urbpan]

The name of this endangered Asian wild goat simply will not stay in my head. I asked vampyrusgirl twice while I was at the zoo and just had to ask her again. Partly it's because I'd never heard the word before (that doesn't happen much with me--I'm a voracious consumer of animal encyclopedias and such) and partly because it doesn't sound like an animal's name. "Behold, it is Markhor, the Barbarian!" or "I lettered my sign with a permanent markhor."

As it turns out, the name itself has baffling and stupid etymology: "The name markhor is derived from the Persian mar, a snake, and khor, eating. This name is puzzling, since the markhor is a vegetarian, although it has been known to kill snakes."
http://www.animalinfo.org/species/artiperi/caprfalc.htm

Pretty animals, though, and a really nice exhibit for them over at the Stone Zoo.