Wild Goat

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Capra aegagrus
Wild Goat, Capra aegagrus aegagrus
Wild Goat, Capra aegagrus aegagrus
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Genus: Capra
Species: C. aegagrus
Binomial name
Capra aegagrus
Erxleben, 1777
Subspecies

Capra aegagrus aegagrus
Capra aegagrus blythi
Capra aegagrus chialtanensis
Capra aegagrus cretica
Capra aegagrus hircus
Capra aegagrus turcmenica

The wild goat (Capra aegagrus) is a widespread species of goat, with a distribution ranging from Europe and Asia Minor to central Asia and the Middle East.

Contents

[edit] Social structure

In the wild, goats live in flocks of up to 500 individuals; males are solitary. Male goats go through a period called a rut, where they are ready to mate. During the rut old males drive younger males from the maternal herds. The gestation period averages 170 days. Does (females) usually give birth to one kid. Kids can follow the mother goat almost immediately after birth. Kids are weaned after 6 months. Female goats reach sexual maturity at 1.5-2.5 years, males at 3.5-4 years. The lifespan of a goat can be from 12 to 22 years.

[edit] Environmental problems caused by goats

Main article: Feral goat

Though wild goats are native to some areas introduction to new areas can be extremely destructive. On the Galapagos wild goats (descendents of the goats left by explorers) ate the native plants. This threw the ecosystem off, in order to correct this they were hunted to extinction on the islands. Though this may seem like an extreme measure, it was necessary to prevent native species' extinction.

[edit] Subspecies

[edit] Distribution

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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