Abstract:The dietary composition and seasonal dietary shift of the Asiatic Ibex (Capra sibirica) in the central Tianshan Mountains were investigated using fecal micro-histological analysis. Total of 37 species (genus) of plants from 14 different families were identified in the fecal samples of the Asiatic Ibex (Table 1). Poaceae was found to be the main food source of the Ibex, accounting for 54.30% and 59.34% of its diet in the summer and winter, respectively. Cyperaceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae and Asteraceae were also important food items of the ibex. Within these groups, Poa alpine, Kobresia spp., and Stipa spp. were the most commonly foraged plants (Table 1). The result of Chi-square tests revealed that the foraging habits of the ibex in summer and winter were significantly different. The proportion of Rosaceae (Pearson χ2 = 13.737, df = 1, P < 0.01) and Asteraceae (Pearson χ2 = 4.784, df = 1, P < 0.05) consumed in winter was significantly lower than in summer, while the amount of Poaceae (Pearson χ2 = 4.319, df = 1, P < 0.05) consumed in winter was significantly higher than in summer. At the plant species level, there were significant differences in the proportions consumed in summer and winter (Pearson χ2 = 89.495, df = 36, P < 0.01) (Fig. 2). The results indicate that the Asiatic ibex of the central Tianshan Mountains exhibits a generalist feeding patterns with significant seasonal shift.