Illustration by Gerald Rapp & Cullen Inc./Laszlo Kubinyi
Mountain Goat
Oreamnos americanus
August 24, 1805, in Lemhi County, Idaho.
A relatively small bovid. Compact, short-legged body. Yellowish white fur, "beard" about 5 in (12 cm) long, retained year-round. Both sexes have backward-curving, dagger-like horns, up to 12 in (30 cm) long in male, 9 in (23 cm) in female. Female smaller than male.
Rocky, mountainous areas above timberline.
Extreme southern Alaska, southern Yukon, British Columbia, southwestern Alberta, parts of Washington, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana. Introduced successfully in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
The mountain goat is not a true goat, but belongs to a group known as goat-antelopes. Avalanches and rock slides are the greatest killers of mountain goats, accounting for many more deaths than predation.
