The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a

wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threatene ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

in the west to

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in the east. It has been listed as near threatened on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

and is threatened by

destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...

and degradation of habitat. It is one of the ancestors of the domestic goat (''C. hircus'').

Taxonomy

''Capra aegagrus'' was the

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

proposed by

Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben was a German natural history, naturalist from Quedlinburg. Erxleben was professor of physics and veterinary medicine at the University of Göttingen. He wrote ''Anfangsgründe der Naturlehre'' (1772) and ''Sy ...

in 1777 for the wild goat populations of the Caucasus and Taurus Mountains. ''Capra blythi'' proposed by Allan Octavian Hume in 1874 were wild goat horns from

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

. The following wild goat subspecies are considered valid taxa: *

Bezoar ibex The bezoar ibex (''Capra aegagrus aegagrus'') is a wild goat subspecies that is native to the montane forested areas in the Caucasus and the Zagros Mountains. Characteristics The bezoar ibex, which weighs around 60kg (130lb) is known particu ...

''C. a. aegagrus'' *

Sindh ibex The Sindh ibex or Sindhi wild goat (''Capra aegagrus blythi'') is a vulnerable subspecies of wild goat endemic to southern Pakistan. Description Sindh ibex are rather stocky animals with thick-set bodies and strong limbs terminating in broad ho ...

''C. a. blythi'' *

Chiltan ibex The Chiltan ibex or Chiltan goat (''Capra aegagrus chialtanensis'') is a wild goat endemic to Chiltan, Balochistan, Pakistan. Description Males are reddish-gray in color. Some males have dark brown or black chests, sometimes a dark shoulder strip ...

''C. a. chialtanensis'' *

Turkmen wild goat The Turkmen wild goat or bearded goat (''Capra aegagrus turcmenica'') is a vulnerable sub-species of wild goat native to Iran and Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Cen ...

''C. a. turcmenica'' *''Capra aegagrus pictus'' The

kri-kri The kri-kri (''Capra hircus cretica''), sometimes called the Cretan goat, Agrimi, or Cretan Ibex, is a feral goat inhabiting the Eastern Mediterranean, previously considered a subspecies of wild goat. The kri-kri today is found only in Greece o ...

was once thought to be a subspecies of the wild goat, but is now considered to be a feral descendant of the domestic goat (''Capra hircus''), as ''Capra hircus cretica''.

Distribution and habitat

In Turkey, the wild goat occurs in the Aegean,

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and the Eastern Anatolia Regions up to in the

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus * ''Bos taurus ...

and

Anti-Taurus Mountains The Anti-Taurus Mountains (from el, Αντίταυρος) are a mountain range in southern and eastern Turkey, curving northeast from the Taurus Mountains. At , Mount Erciyes ( Turkish: Erciyes Dağı) is the highest peak not just in the ran ...

. In the Caucasus, it inhabits

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s in the river basins of Andi Koysu and its tributaries in

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

and Georgia up to . In

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, wild goats were recorded in the

Zangezur Mountains The Zangezur Mountains ( hy, Զանգեզուրի լեռներ or Սյունյաց լեռներ, az, Zəngəzur dağları) are a mountain range that defines the border between Armenia's southern provinces of Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Azerbaijan ...

, in

Khosrov State Reserve Khosrov Forest State Reserve ( hy, Խոսրովի անտառ պետական արգելոց), is a nature reserve in Ararat Province of Armenia. The reserve is one of the oldest protected areas in the world having a history of about 1700 years. I ...

, and in highlands of the Syunik Province during field surveys from 2006 to 2007. In

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, wild goats occur in

Ordubad National Park Zangezur National Park ( az, Zəngəzur Milli Parkı) is a national park in Azerbaijan. It was established as the Ordubad National Park on an area of in Ordubad District of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic on June 16, 2003. On 25 November 2009 ...

, Daralayaz and Murovdag mountain areas in

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic ( az, Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası, ), is a landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republic with a popula ...

. In

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's Haftad Gholleh Protected Area, wild goat herds live foremost in west-facing areas with rocky substrates, water sources and steep slopes that are far from roads. In

, wild goat populations inhabit the mountain ranges of

Uly Balkan The Uly Balkan, also known as the ''Great Balkan Range'' is a mountain range in Turkmenistan. The highest summit is Mount Arlan Mount Arlan (''Uly Balkan Gerşi'') is an peak in the western plains of Turkmenistan in Balkan Province. Mount A ...

and Kopet Dag. In

, wild goat herds occur in

Kirthar National Park The Kirthar National Park ( ur, ), Sindhi (کيرٿرنيشنل پارڪ) is situated in the Kirthar Mountains in Jamshoro District in Sindh, Pakistan. The park was established in 1974, and encompasses over - making it the third largest natio ...

Behaviour and ecology

In Kirthar National Park, 283 wild goat groups were observed for 10 months in 1986. The group sizes ranged from two to 131 individuals but varied seasonally, with a mean ratio of two females per male. In Dagestan, male wild goats start courting females in mid December. The rutting season lasts until the third week of January. Females give birth to between one and three kids in late June to mid July. Older males drive younger males from the maternal herds. The

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...

period averages 170 days. Kids are mobile almost immediately after birth. Kids are weaned after 6 months. Female goats reach sexual maturity at 1½–2½ years, males at 3½–4 years. The lifespan of a goat can be from 12 to 22 years.

Threats

Wild goat populations are threatened foremost by poaching,

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

due to

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

, and competition with domestic livestock for food resources.

References

External links