Capra hircus

Geographic Range

Domestic goats, Capra hircus , most likely descended from C. aegagrus which is from Central Asia. Since the domestication of this species, goats have been spread all over the world by humans. C. hircus requires grass for grazing, but can survive on very thin deposits of grass. Therefore, the only areas C. hircus cannot inhabit are tundras, deserts, and aquatic habitats. There are some feral groups on Hawaii and on other islands.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic nearctic
  • introduced introduced
• palearctic palearctic
  • native native
• oriental oriental
  • introduced introduced
• ethiopian ethiopian
  • introduced introduced
• neotropical neotropical
  • introduced introduced
• australian australian
  • introduced introduced
• oceanic islands oceanic islands
  • introduced introduced

• Other Geographic Terms
• cosmopolitan cosmopolitan

Habitat

Capra hircus is a domesticated animal and has been raised in almost all habitats. Goats do require grass for grazing, but can thrive in areas of thin growth that would not support other grazers such as sheep or cows. Also, C. hircus can be kept in dry lots as long as they are constantly fed by humans. Some sort of clean and ventilated shelter is necessary, but it does not have to be extravagant. For sleeping, C. hircus prefers a bedded area of at least 15 feet. Goats require exercise; optimally a goat should have at least 25 square feet per animal for this. Due to a well-developed herding instinct, C. hircus prefers to be in groups of 2 or more. As a domesticated species, C. hircus is very susceptible to predation. Therefore, it is best situated in a fenced in area. Feral groups are found usually in rugged mountain country, rocky crags, and alpine meadows.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• taiga taiga
• desert or dune desert or dune
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland
• chaparral chaparral
• forest forest
• rainforest rainforest
• scrub forest scrub forest
• mountains mountains

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural agricultural

Physical Description

Because of its long history of domestication, there are many different breeds of C. hircus . Different breeds can have many different attributes. Typically, adults weigh 45 kg and be 64 cm tall. C. hircus is 1150 to 1700 mm in length. However, weight can vary between 9 and 113 kg and height can vary between 26 and 107 cm in different breeds.

Capra hircus is sexually dimorphic. Males have a beard, horns, a rank odor, and are generally larger than the females. The odor stems from sex glands. The horns are hollow, and grow either scimitar or corkscrew. The hair is generally straight, however some breeds have a wool undercoat. Coat color varies, and can be black, white, red, and brown. Color patterns include solid color, spotted, striped, blended shades, and facial stripes. The nose can be either straight or convex. European breeds have erect ears and Indian breeds do not. The LaMancha breed has no external ear. The tail is short and curved upward.

The average heart rate for C. hircus is 83 beats per minute, and the body temperature is 103.6 degrees F. C. hircus is born with 6 lower incisors and by 4 weeks old have a full set of milk teeth consisting of the 6 lower incisors and 24 molars. The upper jaw does not develop milk teeth, rather it has bony plates to articulate with the lower teeth.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• ornamentation ornamentation

Reproduction

Humans usually control the breeding behavior of C. hircus . Under human control C. hircus follows a polygynous reproductive system. In nature, feral groups follow this same pattern. In captivity, certain males may be chosen by humans to sire the young of several females. The females are then inseminated either directly by those males or by artificial insemination. Left to their own devices, male goats compete for rank, and the highest ranking males have access to mate with the females. Males fight by butting heads until one competitor surrenders. Sex glands are used to produce pheromones.

• Mating System
• polygynous polygynous

The breeding season for C. hircus is from late summer to early winter. The female estrus cycle is 18 days long. However, in the tropics certain breeds reproduce all year long. By manipulating the amount of light goats are exposed to during the day, the estrus cycle can be artificially induced. Twins are extremely common to this species, otherwise 1 or 3 offspring is the typical brood size. Gestation differs between breeds, but is between 145 and 152 days. The young are born precocious and able to walk and follow the mother just hours after birth. About 10 months after birth the young are weaned from their mother’s milk and graze independently. Females become reproductively mature around the age of 1 year, whereas males reach reproductive maturity around 5 months of age.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• induced ovulation induced ovulation
• fertilization fertilization
• viviparous viviparous

Mothers of C. hircus nurse their young for 10 months after birth. The main source of parental care is the mother. She provides milk for the young. Since this is a grazing species grass is readily availiable to the young and no solid food needs to be delivered by a parent. Once the young are grown, they will remain in the herd and compete for rank.

• Parental Investment
• no parental involvement
• altricial altricial
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• post-independence association with parents

Lifespan/Longevity

Domestic goats typically live to be 15 years old in captivity. An individual has lived to be 22 years old. Humans control the lifespan of domestic goats generally, however predation still occurs under human control. In the wild, predation and parasites are the major factors affecting longevity.

Behavior

Domestic goats are social animals and prefer to be in the presence of other goats. The size of captive herds is controlled by humans. Herd sizes in the wild tend to be 5 to 20 members, but can be as high as 100. The herds can contain only males, only females and young, or a mix of both. Goats are diurnal, and spend most of the day grazing. Because they live under human control, most goats can be described as sedentary. There is a rank structure in the herds. The males butt heads for hierarchy status.

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• social social
• dominance hierarchies dominance hierarchies

Home Range

There is no known home range size for these animals. Because their living arrangements are most often controlled by humans, it is difficult to estimate how much space they would occupy without human control.

Communication and Perception

Capra hircus uses the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch to experience the world. To communicate with each other sight, smell, and hearing are primarily used, although touch is important when males are butting heads to determine dominance status. During the mating season the males emit pheromones. Due to domestication, C. hircus has learned to interact with other species such as humans and dogs. Vocal and visual signals from humans and dogs can control where and when members of C. hircus walk, eat, and reproduce.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• pheromones pheromones

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Domestic goats are ruminants and eat grasses and shrubs. Goats can choose what grasses they will eat and generally avoid grass covered in feces. In captivity they eat roughage all year round. When the season is warm they can graze, but during the winter they are fed by humans. Farmers feed males and females different quantities and different types of foods on farms. C. hircus is a ruminant and eats grasses and shrubs. Goats can choose what grasses they will eat and generally avoid grass covered in feces. In captivity they eat roughage all year round. When the season is warm they can graze, but during the winter they are fed by humans. Farmers feed males and females different quantities and different types of foods on farms. C. hircus is a ruminant and eats grasses and shrubs. Goats can choose what grasses they will eat and generally avoid grass covered in feces. In captivity they eat roughage all year round. When the season is warm they can graze, but during the winter they are fed by humans. Farmers feed males and females different quantities and different types of foods on farms. C. hircus is a ruminant and eats grasses and shrubs. Goats can choose what grasses they will eat and generally avoid grass covered in feces. In captivity they eat roughage all year round. When the season is warm they can graze, but during the winter they are fed by humans. Farmers feed males and females different quantities and different types of foods on farms.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves

Predation

The main predators of domestic goats are coyotes, dogs, mountain lions, foxes, eagles, and bobcats. Humans provide the most protection by keeping them in fences; however even that is not impenetrable. The main defense from predation which domestic goats have is living in herds. They can also be aggressive and will use their horns in defense.

Ecosystem Roles

Because goats are a domestic species and non-native throughout most of their current range, their grazing can be detrimental to natural ecosystems. Goat overgrazing can cause erosion, spread of deserts, and the disappearance of natural wildlife. This was documented in New Zealand and scientists believe grazing by goats is preventing revegetation. A feral population of C. hircus led to the extinction of many forest bird species in Hawaii and feral goat populations may most severely impact their wild cousins, other members of the genus Capra . However, in some managed grasslands, goats have been used to prevent the spread of introduced weeds.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Capra hircus is regularly farmed for milk, wool, cheese, meat, and leather. The milk is actually more digestible by humans than cow milk. More people worldwide use goats for dairy and meat than use cows. Many people also keep them as pets and show them in competitions.

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade pet trade
• food food
• body parts are source of valuable material

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Capra hircus can be quite detrimental to the environment and therefore be a problem to humans. Feral groups of C. hircus have caused erosion and ruined the quality of soil by overgrazing.

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Conservation Status

Capra hircus is quite abundant and under no special conservation status.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.

Adam Mileski (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor, instructor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

American Sheep Industry Association, 2007. "Targeted grazing, a natural approach to landscape enhancement" (On-line). Accessed October 06, 2008 at http://sheepindustrynews.com/Targeted-Grazing/ .

Haenlein, G. 1992. "All About Goats" (On-line). National Dairy Database. Accessed February 03, 2004 at http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/AgrEnv/ndd/goat/ALL_ABOUT_GOATS.html .

Vaughan, T., J. Ryan, C. Nicholas. 2000. Mammology . United States: Thomson Learning Inc..

1983. Capra hircus. Pp. 1298-1301 in Walker's Mammals of the World , Vol. 2. United States of America: John Hopkins University Press.

2004. "Did you know?" (On-line). American Dairy Goat Association. Accessed February 03, 2004 at http://adga.org/facts.htm .

1981. Farm Animals. Pp. 176-179 in The Oxford Companion to Abnormal Behavior. . Great Brittain: Oxford University Press.

2004. "Goat" (On-line). Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed July 29, 2004 at http://search.eb.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/eb/article?eu=37869 .

1984. Goats and Sheep. Pp. 85-88 in Evolution of Domestic animals . New York: Longman Group.

National 4-H Council. 2000. "National 4H council" (On-line). Accessed February 10, 2004 at http://www.fourhcouncil.edu/ .

USDA. Sheep and Goats predator loss. Washington, DC: National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2000. Accessed February 09, 2004 at http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/livestock/pgg-bbsg/predan00.txt .