![]() Evolutionary relationships of mountain mammals can be difficult to determine due to the poor fossil records in high-altitude environs. The goat antelopes are placed by some as their own bovid tribe, the Rupicaprini. These animals are fairly familiar, but some bovids don’t fit neat classifications. In fact, much about their taxonomy and evolution remains in doubt.Ībout that doubt: let’s first address the imperfect label of “goat antelope.” These animals are all bovids, a mammal family that includes true goats, sheep, oxen and antelopes. Due to the mountainous terrain they prefer, they are not creatures easily viewed from safari vehicles. ![]() They are not the subject of nature documentaries. They are rarely exhibited in zoos or even natural history museums. While goat antelopes can be found close to highly populated areas like Europe, Japan and Taiwan, most North Americans have never seen one. Do you know the serow? The goral? A Japanese serow. While many North Americans have a familiarity with mountain goats (even though they are often confused with bighorn sheep), the other goat antelopes may be among the most unfamiliar large mammals on earth. They are part of a group of animals some call “goat antelopes,” species that bear superficial resemblance to both. And indeed, they’re unusual creatures: not true goats at all and found only in North American mountains. It’s always a treat to see mountain goats. I recalled wildlife biologist Douglas Chadwick’s description of these animals, calling them, “beasts the color of winter.” Indeed, their white coloration stands out on the summer’s slopes. ![]() Even though they’re sure-footed creatures, they kicked up plenty of rocks as they went, sending them careening down the slope. The herd of white animals, large and small, trotted across a seemingly impossible rock face. But my wife Jennifer pointed excitedly: Mountain goats. Idaho had a notable earthquake earlier in the year, and aftershocks continue to shake the mountains. Mountain goats have not been surveyed in the park since 2014 due to both poor flying conditions for survey aircraft and budgetary constraints.The sound of clattering rocks caught our attention, as we scanned the slopes of Idaho’s Boulder-White Cloud Mountains. Soil rockiness may be increasing slightly over time at sites with high goat presence, but no largescale effects have been detected so far with respect to vegetation (species, community structure).Ĭolonization of suitable habitats south of The Thunderer and along the eastern park boundary within the Absaroka Mountain Range appears to be occurring, with a larger number of groups with females and young observed on Saddle Mountain and on Castor and Pollux peaks during recent years. Studies by Idaho State University and the National Park Service during 2008–2010 suggest goats are affecting the soil chemistry of sites they inhabit by increasing the availability of soil nitrogen through deposition of urine and feces. Studies of alpine vegetation in the northeast portion of the park during 20 suggest that ridge-top vegetation cover is lower, and barren areas along alpine ridges are more prevalent in areas that have received relatively high goat use.
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