Wild goats: types, description, distribution, nutrition

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Few people know that the ancestors of ordinary domestic goats are wild goats. Outwardly, there is a significant difference between them even in the same behavior. Nevertheless, they have common roots. Thousands of years spent next to man had an impact on domesticated animals. However, to this day, wild goats live on the earth. It is about them that we want to talk in our article.

Wild mountain goats

Wild goats, which still live in the wild, are probably the progenitors of modern domestic goats. They are divided into different types, subspecies. In our article we want to talk about some of them. Wild goats are ruminant mammals, which currently, depending on the classification, there are from eight to ten species. They mainly live in mountainous areas. Such animals are very mobile, hardy, and can survive on lands with very sparse vegetation. Conventionally, they can be divided into three types: tours, goats and ibexes. Let's talk about some of them.

Markhorn Goat

Where does the markhorn goat live?Markhor lives in Turkmenistan (in the Kugitang mountains), Tajikistan (in the area of the Darvaz, Babatag and Kugitangtau ridges), Uzbekistan (in the upper reaches of the Amu Darya), Afghanistan, East Pakistan and in the northwestern part of India.

Outwardly, markhor does not look like other mountain goats. His horns have a special shape, which is why, in fact, he received the name markhorn. The horns are twisted in several turns, with the right one twisted to the right and the left one to the left. Males have distinctive features in the form of a long beard and lush hair on the chest. The color of animals varies from red to gray. Males can reach 80-120 kilograms, exceeding females in weight twice. Markhor reaches a height of one meter.

Where the markhorn goat lives, there is not such a rich choice of food, so in the summer the basis of the diet is grassy vegetation, but in the winter months thin twigs of trees are used. Even at the sight of a dangerous enemy, the goats continue to graze, at times raising their heads and observing the situation. But as soon as they lose sight of the predator, they are instantly out of sight. Markhor live, as a rule, in small groups, and during the rut they unite in herds of 15-20 individuals. In the wild, markhor goats usually do not live more than ten years. But the animals that are kept in zoos quietly live up to twenty.

West Caucasian or Kuban tour

These animals are very graceful. The West Caucasian tur lives on the border of Georgia and Russia. Its habitatnot very large and is just a narrow strip of about 4,500 square kilometers, which is constantly shrinking due to human activity.

The Kuban tur is considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a species that is in great danger. Currently, there are no more than 10,000 individuals worldwide. In the wild, the West Caucasian tour often occurs with the East Caucasian one, as a result of which hybrid individuals are born that are not capable of producing offspring. This is also one of the reasons for the decrease in livestock.

Kuban turs are genetically close to bezoar goats, and their outward resemblance to Dagestan turs can be explained by hybridization, which is confirmed by the latest scientific research.

Appearance and behavior of the West Caucasian tur

The West Caucasian Tur has a very strong and massive physique. Adult males weigh from 65 to 100 kilograms. But the females are slightly inferior in weight (no more than 60 kilograms). Accordingly, the horns of females are much smaller than those of males. The horns of males are quite massive and heavy, reaching a length of 75 centimeters. But their diameter is not as large as, for example, that of the East Caucasian representatives. But the tails of females and males are the same. The upper part of the Kuban tur has a red-brown color, and the lower part is yellow. In winter, the coat has a grayish-brown hue, which allows the animal to blend in with the environment.

West Caucasian tours are very cautious. Adults spend the whole summer far in the mountains, not allowing anyone to approach them. But females live in small herds, matriarchy reigns in their communities. Female individuals are engaged in raising young animals, helping each other in this. It has been noticed that females are very caring mothers, in case of danger they will never abandon their offspring and will try to take the babies away from the hunters to the last.

Males are brought up in herds until puberty, and at the age of 3-4 years they are expelled, but they still do not know how to live on their own, therefore they unite in small groups. But already at the age of 6-7 years, males become strong enough to fight for the female.

In winter, Kuban turs periodically unite into large herds of different sexes, since it is easier for them to endure the cold together. During such periods, food becomes very scarce, so the animals not only eat dry grass found under the snow, but also eat bark from coniferous trees, gnaw on young shoots of birches, willows and needles, and with incredible appetite they eat ivy and blackberry leaves.

Himalayan tar

The Himalayan tahr is a goat, sometimes also called a goat antelope. The animal looks really very similar to a goat, but at the same time it has a long brown-red hair, reaches a height of one meter. Taras tend to keep small family groups. Sometimes they unite in herds, the number of which reaches 30-40 individuals. Tara are very cautious and at the slightest danger they run over stones through forests, easily bypassing steep slopes. During the mating season, the animals fight with each other with horns, fighting for the female.

Arabian tar

Arabian tahr lives in only one region on earth - this is the highlands of Hajar on the Arabian Peninsula, which is partly located on the territory of Oman, and partly on the lands of the United Arab Emirates. Animals live in mountains and rocks in an extremely arid climate.

The Arabian tar has a solid build, strong legs, suitable for climbing steep rocks. The animal is completely covered with long reddish-brown hair, and a dark stripe stretches along the back. Females and males have long, backward-curving horns.

Siberian Ibex

Siberian ibexes are inhabitants of the rocky mountains. Their southern and western counterparts live mainly in the treeless highlands, while the northern ones live in the forest zone. Animals have large sizes and strongly developed legs, as well as long saber-shaped horns. Males are larger than females, and reach one hundred kilograms, and their height at the withers ranges between 67 and 110 cm. Siberian ibexes live on rocks and mountain slopes at different heights. They can be found in Mongolia, Sayan and Altai.

Alpine goats

Alpine ibex is a genus of mountain goats that can only be seen in the Alps. They live at an altitude of up to 3,5 thousand meters and love to surprise tourists with their ability to climb steep cliffs. Animals feel great in the mountains, onborder between forest and ice. In winter, in search of food, goats are forced to descend a little lower, but they rarely do this, since alpine meadows are dangerous for them in terms of predators. But Capricorns also show unprecedented caution. Going to a watering hole or just to pasture, they always leave a sentry goat who can warn others of the danger in time.

Alpine goats are quite large animals, the weight of which can reach one hundred kilograms with a height of one and a half meters. Females, of course, are much more modest in size, their weight hardly reaches forty kilograms. Like their Siberian relatives, they boast impressive horns. In males, they can reach one meter, but in females this part is slightly less.

Animal horns are not just decoration, but rather serious weapons. The mating season is from November to January. At this time, lone males begin to look for a suitable herd of females, driving away all rivals from them. Often they have to participate in real serious battles, the main weapon in which are powerful horns. Having conquered the herd of goats, the animal remains in it for some time, and in the spring each female gives birth to one or two kids. During the next year, they nurse their offspring.

In the future, the older generation behaves in the same way as other wild goats, the species of which are given by us in the article: the females do not leave their herd, but the matured males will have to leave. At the beginning of independent life, malestry to create their own herds, but they tend to fall apart fairly quickly.

History of ibex

Currently, there are about 30-40 thousand of these animals in the Alps. And at the beginning of the nineteenth century, alpine goats were almost on the verge of destruction. And the thing is that medieval people considered capricorns to be mystical and sacred creatures. Their wool, bones and blood were sometimes credited with the most unusual properties, including the ability to heal ailments. All this led to the fact that a zealous hunt began for the animals.

By 1816, there were no more than a hundred ibex left. It was a miracle that they were saved. All the alpine goats that exist today are descended from that hundred. Subsequently, the animals were taken under protection, due to which their numbers gradually increased.