🐾 Goat

Goat

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Capra hircus
• Family & relatives: A farm animal in the family Bovidae, related to sheep, wild goats, and antelopes.
• How to spot it: A nimble, hoofed animal with a short coat, a little beard, and often a pair of curved horns.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Stands about 40 to 80 cm tall at the shoulder, depending on the breed.
• Weight: Usually about 20 to 90 kg (44 to 200 lb).
• Body & adaptations: Its split hooves grip rocks, and a special four-part stomach lets it chew tough plants into food.
• Top speed: Can run up to about 25 km/h (16 mph) and is a wonderful jumper and climber.
• Strength: Strong and surefooted, a goat can climb steep hills and even trees to reach tasty leaves.
• Senses: Good eyesight with wide side-set eyes, plus keen hearing and smell.
• Growing up: A baby goat, called a kid, can stand and hop within hours and grows up in about a year.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Lives on farms and in fields and hills, and is happy in warm or cold places.
• Where in the world: Raised by people on farms all over the world.
• Territory: A goat stays with its herd and knows its favorite spots to graze and rest.

What it eats

• Diet: A plant eater that nibbles grass, leaves, and hay, and always needs fresh water.
• Favorite foods: Grass, hay, leaves, shrubs, and farm grains given by its keeper.
• How it hunts: Not a hunter; it grazes and browses all day, tasting many plants to find the best ones.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Walks, trots, and leaps easily and climbs rocky slopes with amazing balance.
• When it is active: Active by day, grazing in the morning and evening and resting to chew its cud midday.
• Family life: Very social, living in a friendly group called a herd led by an older goat.
• How it talks: Talks with bleats and calls, and each goat and kid knows the other's special voice.
• Babies: After about five months a mother goat, called a doe, usually has one or two kids in spring.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: A helpful farm animal that gives milk and keeps fields tidy by eating weeds.
• Conservation: Domestic farm animal, not a wild species, so it is not tracked for conservation.
• Dangers: Stays healthy with shelter, good food, and visits from a farm vet.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: About 15 to 18 years with good care.
• In our culture: One of the first animals people ever tamed, valued for milk, cheese, and wool for thousands of years.
• Where to see it: On farms, at petting zoos, and in fields and mountains around the world.
• Fun fact: Goats have rectangle-shaped pupils that help them see almost all the way around without turning their heads.