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| Hoofprints | ||||||||||
| Wild Goats | ||||||||||
| By Mark Walker | ||||||||||
| The wild goat is predominately distributed across the middle east, but it also occurs in parts of Europe such as in Greece, the Balkans and parts of the former soviet union. All domestic goats are thought to have descended from this type of wild goat. The wild goat has suffered in large population reductions in the past and is now absent from many areas it once colonised. It was thought that wild goats occurred in Crete, but it is now known that these are feral goats, once domestic goats that now run wild. The wild goat lives in rocky places, having a variable coat colour that lightens in the summer months. The wild goat has horns, those in the males being 80-130cm long. It weighs about 30kg and stands at about 100cm tall. Much of the reduction in Wild goat numbers occurred because of superstition. Goats often have fur balls in their stomachs, and these were thought to have medicinal properties against such problems such as impotence. This meant many goats and many areas were hunted to extinction. |
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