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Mountain Goat

Oreamnos americanus

Yukon government  photo

Also known as: Rocky Mountain Goat

Fast Facts
Height	1.4 m
Weight	70 kg
Lifespan	12 years
Habitat
Predators	Golden Eagles, wolves, bear, humans
Conservation Status
Yukon	S3 (Vulnerable)
Global	G5 (Secure)
Yukon population estimate: Not determined

Description

• All white hair with a fine wool undercoat, sometimes dirty brown in summer
• Legs relatively short compared to body
• Pronounced hump over their shoulders
• Black lips, nose, horns, and eyes
• Both males and females have slender horns that extend up and away from its long and narrow face. 

Behaviour

Mountain Goats live on precipitously steep rocky cliffs to quickly escape predators.  They are generally solitary though kids will stay with nannies for about a year.  Male Mountain Goats do not butt heads but instead they aim for hindquarters and bellies occasionally piercing internal organs with fatal results. 

Diet

Grasses, sedges, rushes, conifers and flowering plants

Sights and sounds

Scat Oval pellet (1.0 cm)	Signs Tracks in the snow
Tracks 15 x 8.8 cm

Mammals and People

• Mountain Goat fleece has been used by aboriginal peoples to make clothing, particularly trousers.
• Strict rituals were observed by wives when their husbands were hunting goats. Women of the Inland Tlingit did not touch their hair while the men were out hunting goats or sheep, for fear of "combing" the hunters off the cliffs.
• Today’s efficient hunting methods, as well as the high trophy value of the Mountain Goat, have put pressures on the North American population. The Mountain Goat is the rarest large mammal hunted in Yukon. Males and females are so similar that protecting females is difficult. This has led to severe hunting restrictions to protect the species.

Viewing Opportunities

• Mount White in Agay Mene Territorial Park.
• Peaks of the Coast Mountains along the South Klondike Highway at the B.C./Yukon border.
• St. Elias Trail in Kluane National Park, and Goatherd Mountain, which looms over the Lowell glacier.

Links

• Full mammal series