mountain goat

Description:

A buck stands about 3 feet (1 m) at the shoulder to the waist. Male goats also have longer horns and a longer beard than females do. Mountain goats typically weigh between 100 and 300 lbs (45–136 kg), females are usually 10–30% lighter than males. The mountain goat's feet are well-suited for climbing steep, rocky slopes, sometimes with pitches of 60 degrees or more, with inner pads that provide traction and cloven hooves that can be spread apart as needed.

Habitat:

Mountain goat range: Rocky Mountains and Cascade Range regions of North America from northern Washington, Idaho, and Montana through British Columbia and Alberta, into the southern Yukon and southeastern Alaska. Introduced populations can also be found in such areas as Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Mountain goats live in high-altitude habitats in excess of 13,000 feet (4,000 m). Although they sometimes descend to sea level in coastal areas, they are primarily an alpine and subalpine species. Throughout the year, the animals usually stay above the tree line, but they will migrate seasonally to higher or lower elevations within that range. Winter migrations to low-elevation mineral licks often take them several or more kilometers through forested areas.