Capra aegagrus
The wild goat is a common species of goat, with a distribution ranging from Europe and Asia Minor to central Asia and the Middle East.
There are at least 7 subspecies of wild goats. Our picture shows the Capra aegagrus cretica, commonly known as Kri-kri, Cretan goat, Agrimi, or Cretan Ibex, which is now found only on the island of Crete (Greece) and three small islands just offshore (Dia, Thodorou and Agii Pandes).
In the wild, goats live in flocks of 5-20 goats; males are solitary. Male goats go through a period called a rut, where they ready to mate. During the rut old males drive younger males from the maternal herds. Calves can follow the mother goat almost immediately after birth.
Goats have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, an adaptation that increases peripheral depth perception.
The picture of this Wild Goat (cretica, “Kri-kri”) was taken at the Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece, in June 2007.
Genus Capra
Subfamily Caprinae
Family Bovidae
Order Artiodactyla
Subclass Eutheria
Class Mammalia
Subphylum Vertebrata
Phylum Chordata
Kingdom Animalia
Life on Earth
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