Mountain goats and wild goats are not the same. Though most people don’t differentiate. Any goat that can climb on mountain, people mistakenly call it a mountain goat. Even the BBC is calling an ibex a mountain goat in their video description (see the video at the end of this post).
Mountain goats are endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. Wild goats inhabit forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east.
The mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) is the only living species in Oreamnos genus. So, mountain goats aren’t really goats. They’re antelopes. The wild goat is one of the ancestors of the domestic goat.
The wild goat (Capra aegagrus) is one of the nine species of Capra genus. Wild goats have been listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List and are threatened by destruction and degradation of habitat.
Above genus, both mountain goats and wild goats have the same scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Tribe: Caprini
And they have other common characteristics. Don’t care gravity!
Defying gravity
Let’s see some pictures of mountain goats and wild goats where you can say gravity doesn’t exist for them.
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Now, watch this breathtaking video, of the spectacular sight of ibex defying gravity on a vertical dam wall in Italy, and all because they have a craving for some of Earth’s elements essential to life.
How mountain goats and wild goats seem to defy gravity
Hooves:
The outer part is hard , enough to shove into small nooks and crannies; the overall shape and soft center allows them to grip bumps in rock and lock into place.
Their feet evolved for that purpose. Their hooves are convex; the pads of their feet are grippy and provide traction, and they can spread their cloven hoofs, which also allows them to hold on.
Climber goats in Kingsman
As you can see, some goats are amazing climbers; they can appear in a movie. The King’s Man movie has a scene where a goat climbs a mountain besides our hero:
These goats are cashmere goats. Many fans said that the goats were awesome! Actually they are. They produce cashmere wool, the goat’s fine, soft, downy, winter undercoat, in commercial quality and quantity. They are very popular.
