Where does the snow goat live? Snow goat

Body length 124-178 cm, weight 56-81 kg. In the fourth year of life, males become 7.5-15 cm taller than females. The coat is thick, long, white, fluffy. Externally, the snow goat looks like an ordinary domestic goat. The length of the horns in males and females reaches 20-30 cm, the horns themselves have a rounded cross-section.

Snow goat found in western North America. The main habitat in the USA is the mountain ranges of Idaho, Montana and southeastern Alaska, in Canada - the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and the south of the Yukon Territory. The species was also distributed on the Olympic Peninsula, to the center of Alaska, as well as in Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming.

The snow goat is a mountain animal, lives in hard-to-reach places, above the forest line, and in summer it is often found at altitudes even above 3000 meters above sea level. It feeds on grasses and lichens and tolerates frosts down to −40°C. Keeps in small herds.

Mating occurs in November-December, birth - in May-June; more often one kid is born, less often two.

The species is protected. However, despite the relative small number, the threat of extinction due to the inaccessibility of habitat areas is low.

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Snow goats at the Moscow Zoo

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Excerpt characterizing the Snow Goat

In the mountains lives an amazingly beautiful animal that belongs to the bovid family. If you are lucky enough to see these beauties jumping from cliff to cliff, you will remember this spectacle for a lifetime. This miracle of nature is called a snow goat. After reading this article, you will learn a lot interesting facts from the life of these horned climbers.

Snow goat: description

Goats living among the rocks are extremely large: the height of adult individuals reaches 100-106 cm, with a weight of 90-140 kg. Males can be easily distinguished from females by their much larger size; otherwise, “boys” and “girls” are not much different in appearance.

This mountain goat resembles an ordinary domestic goat with its horns, which are no different large sizes. They are relatively small, smooth, slightly curved in shape. The antlers change color depending on the season. In the warm season they are gray, and in the cold winter they are black.

An elongated, medium-sized head rests on a powerful neck. The beard has a distinctive goatee. The limbs of mountain jumpers are extremely strong; thanks to such strong legs, goats can easily cope with the steepest and most dangerous ascents and descents. The hooves are black. The tail is so short that due to the lush fur it is almost invisible.

A distinctive feature of these animals is their amazingly beautiful fur coat. It is especially striking with its chic appearance in winter. At that time White wool especially thick, long, drooping with lush fringe.

Habitat

No heights or rocks are scary for an animal like a snow goat. It’s easy to guess where this brave creature of nature lives - in the mountains. Unfortunately, the population of these artiodactyls is decreasing. IN wildlife This snow-white mountain goat is found exclusively on the cliff slopes of North America. Horned climbers are capable of conquering peaks up to 3000 m.

In ancient times, snow goats lived throughout North America. But over time, people, step by step, pushed them out of their homes. Animals had to go further and further in search of solitude and tranquility.

Wild Lifestyle

Snow goats are not herd animals. They can live alone or in small groups (3-4 individuals). They rarely conflict with each other; if an unwanted conflict brews, they take a kneeling position, which allows them to smooth out the situation. The character of these animals is calm. They are not very active and inactive, although they have to lead a nomadic life to get food.

When moving along the rocks, mountain white beauties do not like to rush, do not like to make sudden movements and jumps, unless necessary. Slowly, like real climbers, artiodactyls manage to rise to dizzying heights.

The large powerful body does not at all prevent goats from holding their hooves on small stones. If, having climbed a cliff, an animal sees that it will not be possible to get down, then it simply jumps down, even from a height of 7 meters. In such a jump, a snow goat can turn up to 60 degrees. If her hooves do not find a flat landing area, she simply pushes off with them and makes the next jump until she is confidently on her feet.

Diet

To feed themselves, snow goats occupy an area of ​​about 4.5 - 4.7 sq. km. In autumn they migrate to the southern and western slopes of the mountains. They don’t like to go down into the valleys; they look for slopes that have not yet been covered with a layer of snow.

Mountain animals graze in the morning and evening. If the moon illuminates the area well, then the goats' meal continues after the sun has set. The menu includes all the vegetation available to them: grass, wild cereals, moss, shrubs, tree branches, lichens. Herbivorous beauties dig out moss and lichens from under the snow with their hooves. Bush branches, leaves and bark are gnawed off. Captive favorite treat snow goats - fruits and vegetables.

Mating season

Snow goats are polygamous animals; they do not differ in loyalty to each other. The mating season occurs during the cold season: November-December. At this time, males begin to mark their territory by spreading a special liquid. The specific smell of their marks informs females about the loving nature of the male. Behind the horns of a goat there is a gland that secretes this liquid, so it rubs its horns against rocks and trees, thereby leaving its unusual smell everywhere.

When meeting a female, a snow goat must earn her favor with unusual and even funny, if observed from the outside, movements. First, he sits on his hind legs, while digging a hole in the ground with his front legs. Then, sticking out his tongue, he walks on the heels of his chosen one on bent limbs, showing humility with all his appearance. This whole performance is played out so that the snow goat will reciprocate. After the horned suitor hits the female lightly in the side, and she does not do the same in response, it becomes clear that the couple took place by mutual consent.

Offspring

Within six months, a snow goat bears offspring. She always gives birth while standing, and in most cases one kid is born, which weighs about 3 kg.

Newborn babies are very active, from the first days of life they walk quickly and feed with appetite on their mother's milk. After 30-35 days of a milk diet, the kids begin to eat plant foods and graze with their mother and other members of the group.

Snow goat: interesting facts

The lifestyle of snow goats is unusual, primarily due to mountainous area where these amazing creatures live.

There are many interesting facts about white beauties:

• Snow goats are not afraid of even fifty-degree frosts with strong winds. In such extreme weather, animals are reliably protected by thick, lush, warm fur.
• The split on the hoof, depending on the situation and need, can narrow and expand. Thanks to this, the animal is able to move on any terrain with a slope of no more than 60 degrees.
• In a group of snow goats, matriarchy reigns: the leader is the female.
• It is impossible to see a snow goat in a forest or field; they live only in the mountains, and sometimes walk through salt licks.
• In ancient times, the Indians collected wool from the rocks, which snow goats shed during molting. Wool fabrics were made from goat down.

They are true experts in moving at high altitudes.

Snow goat (lat. Oreamnos americanus) is a breed of goats living in the mountains from the bovid family. The snow goat is the only representative of this family. They are very similar to mountain goats, but are not of this species. They are distinguishable from mountain goats by their appearance, by which this animal can be identified.

The Snow Goat's winter coat is such that it can withstand frosts down to -50 degrees Celsius with winds up to 150 kilometers per hour.

In addition, both female and male snow goats have a full beard, which is also not a problem.

The Snow Goat's hooves are the perfect device for climbing mountains. They do not slip, they are bifurcated and can be moved apart as needed, providing traction to the surface. All this is allowed to climb slopes up to 60 degrees.

Snow goats have incredible climbing ability, walking along completely sheer cliffs with barely noticeable ledges and cornices;

Snow goats are very large: their height at the withers is 90-105 cm, weight 85-135 kg. Their lush fur makes them look even larger. The small horns give a close resemblance to domestic goats, but they do not reach the same size as mountain goats. Snow goats have horns that are different from others in their family: the horns are smooth and slightly curved. They are also distinguished by a slightly square muzzle, a strong neck and strong legs. Their tail is very short. Thick fur covers like a fur coat. By summer, their fur becomes much shorter and resembles velvet; In winter, the fur grows back and droops in a lush fringe. The coat is of the same length, and only below the knees it is somewhat shorter than on the body. On their beard they have a tuft of hair, as the common people call a “goatee,” which is very similar to the beard of mountain goats.

Snow goats are real beauties. Their fur is white almost all year round, and their hooves are black. The most beautiful thing about these animals is that the color of their horns changes: in winter they are black, and in summer they become gray.

Snow goats and their stronger sex are practically indistinguishable in appearance, but the snow goat is larger than the female. Goats live only in the rocky mountains of North America, they live very high, they can climb mountains to a height of approximately 3000 m. In the recent past, their territory occupied the entire mountain system, but in given time

they were forced into remote areas and special protected areas. Snow goats lead a nomadic lifestyle, moving along bare rocks and patches of alpine meadows. They never enter forests, but sometimes visit salt licks.

Despite their impressive physique, they manage to place their hooves on the smallest stones and climb onto ledges from which it is almost impossible to get off. If they cannot get down, they jump from a height of 6-7 m, and if there is no flat ground below, then as soon as their hooves touch the ground or a small stone, they push off and jump further. Snow goats can turn up to 60° when jumping. Their character is very calm. This type of animal does not like to play violent games and does not show its feelings. They are friendly towards their relatives, and their unusual kneeling position helps goats avoid conflicts.

Snow goats feed on all kinds of grasses and sedges, ferns, branches and needles of low-growing shrubs, lichens, mosses, and in nature reserves they also readily eat vegetables and fruits.

The season when they begin to produce offspring is in November-December. Behind the horns, in males, there are scent glands. Therefore, during the mating season, they rub their horns against rocks and branches, thereby leaving their business card

" In addition, they sit down on their hind legs and dig holes in the ground with their front hooves. The males follow the female they like with their tongues hanging out and their legs half-bent, thereby showing humility. After this, they perform a ritual blow to the female’s side, and if the female hits him back, it means she didn’t like the male. If two males meet, they stand opposite each other and bristle their fur. This way they try to look more impressive. And with all this, they still arch their backs like cats. If this pattern does not intimidate the male standing opposite, then they begin to spin in a symmetrical dance and hit each other in the side with their horns. Such battles are usually bloodless, but there are injuries that are incompatible with life. Snow goats are polygamous; it happens that males mate with two females, and they are also not very faithful friends.

These animals have plenty of enemies, but they rarely encounter predators on their way, because they do not rise to such mountain heights. Snow goats have very well developed eyesight, and if they notice an enemy from afar, they immediately leave. But it happens when, faced with an enemy, they fight off the enemy with their horns, thereby saving their lives. Their worst predator is the puma, which climbs rocks, just like snow goats. Young goats are chased by bald eagles. There have been cases when snow goats themselves attacked people and sheep living nearby just to protect or recapture their territory.

The places where snow goats live are very difficult for people to access. Therefore, there was no big hunt for them. In the old days, the Indians walked and collected wool from the rocks, dropped by animals during seasonal molting

. The down of these animals was very popular and woolen fabrics were made from it. Now the territories where snow goats lived are occupied by people, as a result of which the species of these animals has become very rare and needs protection.
Mountain goats

(Oreamnos americanus)

Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), also called Rocky Mountain goat, a stocky North American ruminant of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). Surefooted relatives of the chamois, mountain goats cling to steep cliffs in habitats ranging from ocean shores to glaciated mountain tops. They are agile, methodical climbers, adapted to the insecure footing of snow-covered and icy cliffs, where predators are loath to follow. On these cliffs, they readily turn on their pursuers, including humans.

Stocky climbers with muscular legs and broad hooves, mountain goats stand about 1 meter (39 inches) at the shoulder. Large males can weigh more than 120 kg (260 pounds), and females weigh about 60–90 kg (130–200 pounds). The hair is coarse, white, and shaggy over a thick, woolly underfur; a beard frames the slender muzzle. The sexes look alike and bear sharp, slightly backward-curving, black horns that are 5–25 cm (2–10 inches) long. Unlike true goats, mountain goats do not butt heads but instead stab each other with their horns.

Since the horns can cause severe injury, mountain goats are highly reluctant to fight. Nevertheless, males grow a very thick skin as a body armor against attacks by rivals or females.

To compensate for their narrow preference for cliffs, mountain goats eat a great variety of plants: grasses, herbs, foliage, twigs, lichens, and, in particular, alpine firs and other conifers. They may excavate these plants at the timberline from beneath deep snow.

In summer when lactating or growing new coats of hair, mountain goats may reluctantly leave the security of their cliffs to supplement their nutrient intake with visits to mineral licks. Among other minerals, inorganic sulfur is used by the goat’s rumen flora to synthesize the rare amino acids cysteine ​​and methionine, which are essential to the goat’s hair growth at that time.

They have a dense build, high legs, and an elongated head. Body length from 125 to 178 cm, weight 60 – 130 kg, height at the withers up to a meter. The eyes and nose are small, black, and the ears are erect.

The horns are slightly bent back, grow throughout their lives, reaching 20–30 cm, and do not change. Her horns are formidable weapons. A beard grows on the chin; both males and females have it.

It feeds on lichen, various grasses, and young shoots of shrubs. Main enemy – snow avalanche, from which even these fast and agile ones do not have time to escape.

They live in very inaccessible places; no other animal dares to go there. Goats jump over steep mountains and rocks with amazing ease and grace, and at the same time manage to turn 180 degrees. They can jump up to two meters, and when going down, they can jump up to 8 meters at a time.

Males try to attract the attention of females by running around her and inviting her to follow him. Sometimes fights occur, which are watched by females, for which the winner gets points when choosing a partner. The pregnancy will last six months. At the end of spring, beginning of summer, the female will give birth to a kid weighing 4 kg. Sometimes two babies are born, but this is rare.

A few hours after birth, the baby, after drinking milk, can follow his mother. He will feed on his mother's milk for 3-4 months. It grows, plays, jumps, but due to lack of experience and skill, young individuals often fall off the cliffs. The cubs will be with the mother as long as she deems necessary. Usually it is she who, when the time comes, drives him out of the herd. Unfortunately, mortality due to this factor among snow goats is high. They produce offspring once every two years.

In the rocky mountains North America There is a beautiful and graceful animal - the snow goat. Its thick white coat, impressive size and extraordinary climbing talents make it very interesting representative animal world.

Externally, the snow goat is similar to the domestic one. The body is slightly compressed laterally, the legs are muscular and strong. The neck is massive. The muzzle is square, with a pronounced “beard”. The horns are relatively small, smooth, slightly curved and very sharp.

In winter they are black, in summer they are gray. The hooves always remain black. The tail is short, sometimes almost invisible under the fur. Height at the withers is from 80 to 110 cm. Adult females weigh 60-90 kg, males - 95-130 kg. Thick fur helps these animals withstand icy winds and temperatures down to -50 °C. The color is most often white, but in some individuals it can be light gray.

In summer the coat is softer and shorter and grows longer in winter. It is shorter on the lower part of the legs. Tufts of this wool, left on bushes or stones after molting, were once collected by the Indians - they made clothes that were warm and pleasant to the touch.

Snow goats have an excellent sense of balance, allowing them to move along the narrowest mountain paths and climb up, leaning on tiny ledges.

They can jump a distance of 7-8 m and at the same time already in the air change the trajectory of movement up to 60°. An ideal eye allows them to accurately jump onto the smallest ledges in the rocks. If such a goat gets into a “climber’s dead end”, that is, a platform from which it is impossible to get off, it simply jumps down to a height of 6-7 m. If necessary, the animal makes a series of such jumps, between them touching the slope with its hooves for only a split second and pushing off from it again. And so on until you reach a relatively level place. IN natural conditions

snow goats live 12-15 years, in captivity - 16-20 years.

Character and lifestyle

Snow goats can live alone or in small herds of 2-4 individuals. Most often, adult males become “hermits”. The groups are dominated by females. Members of the herd treat each other friendly and calmly, rarely entering into conflicts. If a weak individual wants to avoid a fight with a relative, it takes a kneeling position. But in defending their territories from other species, these goats can be aggressive - they can attack bighorn sheep, and sometimes attack people.

They lead a nomadic lifestyle. They can stay on a pasture until the food runs out, after which they begin to look for something new. Snow goats move slowly and smoothly, which is why they seem sedentary, but this pace does not prevent them from climbing to a height of up to 3 thousand m. They are not prone to active and violent games. At night they sleep in small holes that they dig with their hooves. Acute vision helps these animals spot predators from afar. In this case, they manage to escape, and if this is not possible, they defend themselves with the help of horns. Most often they are hunted by cougars. Baby goats are often kidnapped by eagles. Other natural enemies

- wolverines, bears, wolves and lynxes - usually do not rise to the height at which goats live, and attack only when the latter approach the edge of the forest in the valleys. Snow goats often die due to avalanches.

Snow goats eat almost all plants that they can find in the mountains: ferns, grass, wild cereals, moss and lichens, bark and young branches of trees and shrubs. When kept in captivity, they enjoy eating fruits and vegetables. In summer, they prefer to forage for food high in the mountains, away from predators.

In winter they move to the western and southern slopes of the mountains. If necessary, they use their hooves to dig out food from under the snow. They graze in the evening and in the morning, and if the weather is clear, then at night in the moonlight. Once a year they descend into salt marshes.

Where does he live?

The main habitats of the snow goat in the United States are the Olympic Peninsula and the mountains of the states of Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, as well as southeastern Alaska.

In Canada, they can be found in the south of the Yukon, British Columbia, and also in the province of Alberta. Although there has been almost no targeted hunting of these animals, they are endangered due to the fact that people are displacing them from their usual habitats. Now the animals are under state protection.

How does it reproduce

The mating season begins in November and may extend into December. At this time, males often fight: when they meet, they puff up their fur and arch their backs to appear larger, and also dig the ground with their hooves. If one of the opponents does not give up, the opponents begin to circle, trying to hit each other in the side with their horns. Most often the fight ends bloodlessly, but the sharp horns of a goat can sometimes inflict a mortal wound on an opponent.

Behind the horns of males there are glands that secrete an odorous secretion. To use it to attract the attention of females, goats rub their horns against trees and rocks. Since snow goats have a pronounced matriarchy, males show their humility and even “embarrassment” as courtship: they sit on the ground, digging small holes with their front hooves, and follow the females on half-bent legs, sticking out his tongue. If the goat does not want to engage in communication, she can drive the goat away by hitting him in the side with her horns.