Wild goat
{{Short description|Species of mammal}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Wild goat
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|2.58|0}}Pleistocene - Recent
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Bezoarziege.jpg
| image_caption = Bezoar ibex, Capra aegagrus aegagrus
| taxon = Capra aegagrus
| authority = Erxleben, 1777
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = Capra aegagrus aegagrus
}}
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 threatened on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by destruction and degradation of habitat.
It is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic goat (C. hircus).{{cite journal |author1=Mannen, H. |author2=Nagata, Y. |author3=Tsuji, S. |year=2001 |title=Mitochondrial DNA reveal that domestic goat (Capra hircus) are genetically affected by two subspecies of bezoar (Capra aegagurus) |journal=Biochemical Genetics |volume=39 |issue=5−6 |pages=145−154 |doi=10.1023/A:1010266207735 |pmid=11530852|s2cid=24146711 }}
Taxonomy
Capra aegagrus was the first scientific name proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777 for the wild goat populations of the Caucasus and Taurus Mountains.{{Cite book |last=Erxleben |first=J. C. P. |year=1777 |title=Systema regni animalis per classes, ordines, genera, species, varietates cvm synonymia et historia animalivm. Classis I. Mammalia |location=Lipsiae |publisher=Weygandt |pages=520–521 |chapter=Capra aegagrus |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/iochristpolycerx00erxl/page/260}} Capra blythi (proposed by Allan Octavian Hume in 1874) was given to wild goat horns found from Sindh.{{cite journal |last1=Hume |first1=A. C. |year=1874 |title=Note on two apparently undescribed species of Goat from Northern India and a new species of Dove from the Nicobar Islands |journal=Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |issue=December |pages=[https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofasi1874asia/page/240 240]–241 |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofasi1874asia}}
Both the Bezoar ibex (C. a. aegagrus) and the Sindh ibex (C. a. blythi) are considered to be valid subspecies of the wild goat.{{Cite journal |last=Pogorevc |first=Neža |last2=Dotsev |first2=Arsen |last3=Upadhyay |first3=Maulik |last4=Sandoval-Castellanos |first4=Edson |last5=Hannemann |first5=Elisabeth |last6=Simčič |first6=Mojca |last7=Antoniou |first7=Aglaia |last8=Papachristou |first8=Dimitris |last9=Koutsouli |first9=Panagiota |last10=Rahmatalla |first10=Siham |last11=Brockmann |first11=Gudrun |last12=Sölkner |first12=Johann |last13=Burger |first13=Pamela |last14=Lymberakis |first14=Petros |last15=Poulakakis |first15=Nikos |date=2024 |title=Whole-genome SNP genotyping unveils ancestral and recent introgression in wild and domestic goats |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17190 |journal=Molecular Ecology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=e17190 |doi=10.1111/mec.17190 |issn=1365-294X}} There is debate as to whether or not the Chiltan ibex (C. a. chialtanensis). Though it was initially thought to be a distinct subspecies, it is now considered a variant of the wild goat, with some scientists suggesting it may be a hybrid with markhor.{{Cite journal |last=Haneef |first=Maryam |last2=Asmatullah Kakar |first2=Mahrukh Naseem |last3=Kurd |first3=Ahmad |last4=Rafiq |first4=Nosheen |last5=Kakar |first5=Basra |last6=Uddin |first6=Sharif |date=2019-02-28 |title=40. Incidence of ectoparasite in chiltan wild goat (Artiodactyla: Caprinae) native of Hazarganji chiltan national park (HCNP), Balochistan, Pakistan |url=https://thepab.org/index.php/journal/article/view/751/438 |journal=Pure and Applied Biology (PAB) |language=en-US |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=389–396 |issn=2304-2478}}
The Cretan goat (formerly C. a. pictus), or kri-kri, was once thought to be a subspecies of wild goat, but is now considered to be a feral descendant of the domestic goat (Capra hircus), now known as Capra hircus cretica.{{Cite journal |last=Geskos |first=Alkiviadis |date=2013-01-01 |title=Past and present distribution of the genus Capra in Greece |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13364-012-0094-9 |journal=Acta Theriologica |language=en |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1007/s13364-012-0094-9 |issn=2190-3743|url-access=subscription }}
Distribution and habitat
File:Blackbuck1-Kirthar National Park.jpg in Kirthar National Park]]
File:Wild Goat, Zagros, Behbahan.jpg]]
In Turkey, the wild goat occurs in the Aegean, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Southeastern and the Eastern Anatolia Regions up to {{cvt|3250|m}} in the Taurus and Anti-Taurus Mountains.{{Cite journal |last=Huseyin Ambarli (Department of Zoology University of Cambridge) |last2=Weinberg |first2=P |date=2020-03-22 |title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Capra aegagrus |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3786/22145942 |journal=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250131024547/https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3786/22145942 |archive-date=2025-01-31}}
In the Caucasus, it inhabits montane forests in the river basins of Andi Koysu and its tributaries in Dagestan, Chechnya and Georgia up to {{cvt|2700|m}}.{{cite book |author1=Akhmedov, E. G. |author2=Yarovenko, Y. A. |author3=Nasrullaev, N. I. |author4=Babaev, E. A. |author5=Akhmedov, S. G. |year=2009 |title=Status and Protection of Globally Threatened Species in the Caucasus |editor1=Zazanashvili, N. |editor2=Mallon, D. |publisher=CEPF, WWF |location=Tbilisi |chapter=Conservation of the Bezoar Goat in the Eastern Caucasus |pages=26−31 |url=https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/status-and-protection-globally-threatened-species-caucasus.pdf}}{{cite journal |last1=Weinberg |first1=P. |year=2014 |title=On the status and biology of the wild goat in Daghestan (Russia) |journal=Journal of Mountain Ecology |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=31−40 |url=http://www.mountainecology.org/index.php/me/article/view/22}}
In Armenia, wild goats were recorded in the Zangezur Mountains, in Khosrov State Reserve, and in highlands of the Syunik Province during field surveys from 2006 to 2007.{{cite book |author=Khorozyan, I. G. |author2=Weinberg, P. I. |author3=Malkhasyan, A. G. |year=2009 |title=Status and Protection of Globally Threatened Species in the Caucasus |editor1=Zazanashvili, N. |editor2=Mallon, D. |publisher=CEPF, WWF |location=Tbilisi |chapter=Conservation Strategy for Armenian Mouflon (Ovis [orientalis] gmelini Blyth) and Bezoar Goat (Capra aegagrus Erxleben) in Armenia |pages=37−45 |url=https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/status-and-protection-globally-threatened-species-caucasus.pdf}}
In Azerbaijan, wild goats occur in Ordubad National Park, Daralayaz and Murovdag mountain areas in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.{{cite book |author=Talibov, T. H. |author2=Weinberg, P. I. |author3=Mammadov, I. B. |author4=Mammadov, E. N. |author5=Talibov, S. T. |year=2009 |title=Status and Protection of Globally Threatened Species in the Caucasus |editor1=Zazanashvili, N. |editor2=Mallon, D. |publisher=CEPF, WWF |location=Tbilisi |chapter=Conservation Strategy of the Asiatic Mouflon (Ovis [orientalis] gmelini Blyth) and the Bezoar Goat (Capra aegagrus Erxleben) in Azerbaijan |pages=46−52 |url=https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/status-and-protection-globally-threatened-species-caucasus.pdf}}
In Iran'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.{{cite journal |author1=Esfandabad, B.S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Karami, M. |author3=Hemami, M.R. |author4=Riazi, B. |author5=Sadough, M.B. |year=2010 |title=Habitat associations of wild goat in central Iran: implications for conservation |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=883–894 |doi=10.1007/s10344-010-0386-9 |bibcode=2010EJWR...56..883E |s2cid=23188666 |url=http://www.academia.edu/download/47191616/Habitat_associations_of_wild_goat_in_cen20160712-11129-16sv0b6.pdf}}{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
In Turkmenistan, wild goat populations inhabit the mountain ranges of Uly Balkan and Kopet Dag.{{cite book |last1=Korshunov |first1=V. M. |year=1994 |chapter=Ecology of the Bearded Goat (Capra aegagrus Erxleben 1777) in Turkmenistan |title=Biogeography and ecology of Turkmenistan |series=Monographiae Biologicae |volume=72 |pages=231−246 |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht}}
In Pakistan, wild goat herds occur in Kirthar National Park.{{cite journal |author1=Edge, W. D. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Olson-Edge, S. L. |year=1990 |title=Population Characteristics and Group Composition of Capra aegagrus in Kirthar National Park, Pakistan |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=156–160 |doi=10.2307/1382162|jstor=1382162}}
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.
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2019}}
Older males drive younger males from the maternal herds. The gestation 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 due to logging, and competition with domestic livestock for food resources.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{cite web|title=Capra aegagrus: Wild goat videos, photos and facts|url=http://www.arkive.org/wild-goat/capra-aegagrus/|website=Arkive|access-date=2017-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612005913/http://www.arkive.org/wild-goat/capra-aegagrus/|archive-date=2017-06-12|url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web |title=Crete Wild Goat Capra aegagrus cretica |url=http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/sheep-goats-chamois-and-musk-ox-1254385523/capra-aegagrus-cretica |website=World Association of Zoos and Aquariums |access-date=2017-06-18 |archive-date=2016-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017100910/http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/sheep-goats-chamois-and-musk-ox-1254385523/capra-aegagrus-cretica |url-status=dead }}
{{Artiodactyla|R.3}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q178228}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Goat}}
Category:Mammals described in 1777
Category:Taxa named by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben
Category:Fauna of Jammu and Kashmir
Category:Mammals of Central Asia
Category:Mammals of Azerbaijan