Animal
Mountain goat
The mountain goat is a white, shaggy climber. It lives on steep, rocky cliffs high in the mountains of North America.
Mountain goats are white, woolly climbers that live on steep cliffs in the mountains of western North America. Grippy hooves let them cross icy rock where few predators dare to follow. Despite the name, they are not true goats.
Oreamnos americanus is a goat-antelope of the tribe Rupicaprini, a relative of the chamois and a close relative of sheep and true goats. It lives on cliffs from ocean shores to glaciated peaks in northwestern North America, and has been introduced to several mountain ranges where it never lived before.
Photo: Darklich14, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the mountain goat
The mountain goat has thick white fur and a beard.
It has two short black horns. It is a super climber. It walks on rocky cliffs where most animals cannot go.
The mountain goat is a stocky white climber with a shaggy coat, a beard under its chin and two sharp black horns. Both males and females have horns, and they keep them all their lives.
Here is a surprise: the mountain goat is not a real goat. It belongs to a group called goat-antelopes, together with its relative the chamois. It is still part of the same big family as sheep, cattle and true goats.
Oreamnos americanus belongs to the bovid family and to the goat-antelope tribe Rupicaprini. Britannica describes it as a surefooted relative of the chamois and, despite its unusual looks and behavior, a close relative of sheep and true goats.
Adults stand about 1 meter at the shoulder. Britannica gives large males more than 120 kilograms and females about 60 to 90 kilograms, while Animal Diversity Web reports lower figures (about 61 to 82 kilograms for males), so published weights differ. The sexes look alike: both have coarse, white, shaggy hair over thick woolly underfur, a beard, and sharp, slightly backward-curving black horns that are never shed.
Quick facts
- Group
- Mammal
- Length
- 1.25 to 1.79 m
- Height
- 1 m
- Weight
- 60 to 120 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- 12 to 15 years
Life on the cliffs
Mountain goats live in the mountains of North America.
They like steep rocks and cliffs. In winter they walk down to lower places. In summer they climb up high again.
Mountain goats live in the mountains of northwestern North America, from Alaska and Canada's Yukon down to Washington, Idaho and Montana. Most of them live in British Columbia, in Canada.
They choose steep, rocky places with cliffs, from ocean shores to icy mountaintops. Cliffs are their escape route. In summer they climb high, and in winter they move to lower slopes. People have also taken mountain goats to new places, such as Colorado, where our photo was taken.
The native range runs from southeast Alaska and the Yukon south through British Columbia and Alberta to Washington, Idaho and western Montana; Britannica notes that most mountain goats live in British Columbia. The IUCN gives an elevation range from sea level to 4,000 meters. They need escape terrain: steep, rocky slopes, cliffs and bluffs in alpine and subalpine zones.
The species has been introduced where it was never native, including Kodiak Island, the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the Black Hills of South Dakota. It lived on Vancouver Island in early postglacial times but died out, and later attempts to restore it failed. The photo on this page was taken on Mount Massive in Colorado, an introduced population. The map shades countries, so it shows Canada and the United States.
Continent
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Steep, rocky mountains of northwestern North America: Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon in Canada, and Alaska, Idaho and Washington in the United States. They live in only a small part of each country.
Places: Canada and United States.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Spain, UK, Norway and 1 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
A mountain menu
Mountain goats eat plants.
They eat grass, twigs, moss and little trees. In winter they dig in the snow to find food. They also lick salty rocks.
Because they stay so close to their cliffs, mountain goats eat a great variety of plants: grasses, herbs, leaves, twigs, mosses, lichens and especially fir trees and other conifers. In winter they dig down through deep snow to reach plants.
They get most of their water from their food and from patches of snow. In spring and summer they travel many kilometers to mineral licks, places where they can lick salty, mineral-rich soil and rock.
Britannica explains that mountain goats compensate for their narrow preference for cliffs with a very broad diet: grasses, herbs, foliage, twigs, lichens and especially alpine firs and other conifers, dug from beneath deep snow at the timberline in winter. Animal Diversity Web adds mosses and notes that most water comes from food and year-round snowbanks.
In summer, when females are producing milk and all goats are growing new coats, they reluctantly leave their cliffs to visit mineral licks. Among other minerals they take in inorganic sulfur, which microbes in the goat's rumen use to build the amino acids cysteine and methionine, both essential for growing hair.
Did you know?
You can tell a mountain goat's age by the rings on its horns.
Mountain goat horns grow a new ring every year, so counting the rings tells scientists how old the goat is.
Because horns are never shed, annual growth rings record age; Animal Diversity Web reports the oldest known male and female at 15.5 and 18 years.
Built for ice and rock
Mountain goats have special hooves.
The bottoms are soft and grippy, like the soles of sneakers. Their thick white coats keep them warm in the snow.
A mountain goat's legs are short and strong, and its hooves are large and broad. Under each hoof is an almost rubbery sole that grips steep rock, a bit like the sole of a climbing shoe. This lets it move slowly and carefully over icy cliffs.
Its coat has two layers: long, coarse white hairs on the outside and thick, woolly underfur beneath. The black horns grow a new ring every year, so scientists can count the rings to tell how old a goat is.
Mountain goats are methodical rather than fast climbers. Muscular legs and broad hooves give secure footing on snow-covered and icy cliffs, and Animal Diversity Web describes large, oval hooves with an almost rubber-like sole that aids climbing.
The coat combines coarse guard hairs with dense woolly underfur. Horns are present in both sexes and are never shed; annual growth rings let biologists estimate age, and a male's horns curve back more than a female's. Black scent glands sit between the horns. Males grow very thick skin on their flanks, armor against the stabbing attacks of rivals. Animal Diversity Web notes that goats typically live until their teeth wear down, about 12 to 15 years in the wild.
Kids on the cliffs
A baby mountain goat is called a kid.
It is born on a steep cliff, where it is safe. Soon it can walk and climb. It stays close to its mother for a whole year.
Mountain goats mate in late fall and early winter. About six months later, in late spring, the mother climbs to a very steep cliff to give birth, where predators cannot easily reach. Usually she has one kid; twins are rare.
The kid can move about soon after birth, and within a week it joins a nursery group. It drinks milk for three to four months and stays with its mother until her next kid is born.
Courtship begins in September, and mating takes place in late November and December (Animal Diversity Web says the breeding season lasts into early January). Gestation lasts about 180 days, according to Britannica (Grzimek's encyclopedia gives 177; Animal Diversity Web gives about 150 to 180). Kids are born in May or June on very steep cliffs within the mother's home range. Britannica describes a single kid, rarely two; Animal Diversity Web gives one to three.
Kids are mobile shortly after birth and join a nursery group within a week. They are weaned at 90 to 120 days but stay with the mother until she gives birth again, when she chases the yearling away. Both sexes mature at about 30 months. In one study, kid production was highest in females aged 8 to 9 years, and higher-ranking females raised more young.
Where the females are in charge
In a mountain goat group, the grown-up females are the bosses.
The males let the females go first. Goats rest in little hollows that they dig in the ground.
Mountain goats are unusual: for most of the year, adult females are in charge, and males give way to them. Females and young live in small groups, while grown males usually live alone. When a male courts a female, he crawls toward her and makes sounds like a baby goat.
Mountain goats do not bang heads like true goats. Their horns are sharp, so they would rather show off than fight. They rest and take dust baths in shallow hollows they scrape in the ground.
Outside the breeding season adult females dominate, and adult males are subordinate to females and even to juveniles; Britannica notes that males readily defer to females, and that females with young may defend winter territories of good cliff habitat. Courting males crawl toward females making kid-like sounds, and after the rut females may drive males off their wintering ranges.
Rivals stand side by side and stab at each other's flanks rather than butting heads. Because horns can cause serious injury, most aggression is bluff: broadside displays with an arched back, horn threats and short rushes. Groups are larger in winter and gather at salt licks in spring. Goats are active from sunrise to midday and again at dusk, and rest in bedding depressions 25 to 50 millimeters deep.
Did you know?
Mountain goats dig in deep snow to find food.
In winter, mountain goats dig down through deep snow near the treeline to reach the plants underneath.
Winter foraging includes excavating plants, particularly alpine firs and other conifers, from beneath deep snow at the timberline.
Watching over mountain goats
There are many mountain goats in the mountains.
Scientists keep a careful eye on them. In places where their numbers are falling, people stop hunting them.
The IUCN lists the mountain goat as Least Concern, so it is not in danger of dying out. Its 2019 assessment estimates 48,000 to 62,000 adults. But mountain goat numbers go up and down and are easily upset by people, so wildlife scientists watch them closely.
In some places, such as the Cascade Mountains of Washington, numbers have been falling, so hunting is not allowed there and scientists put GPS collars on goats to learn why. Where mountain goats were brought to new mountains, they sometimes damage rare native plants.
The IUCN assessed the mountain goat as Least Concern in 2019, estimating 48,000 to 62,000 mature individuals with a stable trend, and listing hunting and recreational disturbance among the threats. Britannica notes that populations fluctuate and are sensitive to human impacts, so they are monitored closely to allow timely management; the species has been restored to its former abundance in some areas.
Animal Diversity Web describes the reverse problem too. Introduced goats are considered exotic in places such as Olympic National Park, where they damage native plants, and their bedding hollows have harmed rare and endangered plants in parts of Washington; there is also concern that they could bring in new diseases. In declining native populations, such as the Washington Cascades, hunting is closed and goats wear GPS collars to help researchers understand the decline.
IUCN Red List
How is the mountain goat doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
You can tell a mountain goat's age by the rings on its horns.
Mountain goat horns grow a new ring every year, so counting the rings tells scientists how old the goat is.
Because horns are never shed, annual growth rings record age; Animal Diversity Web reports the oldest known male and female at 15.5 and 18 years.
-
A courting male crawls and makes baby goat sounds.
When a male mountain goat courts a female, he crawls toward her and makes sounds like a baby goat.
Courting males approach females low to the ground, crawling and giving kid-like calls, a striking display in a species where males defer to females.
-
Mountain goats dig in deep snow to find food.
In winter, mountain goats dig down through deep snow near the treeline to reach the plants underneath.
Winter foraging includes excavating plants, particularly alpine firs and other conifers, from beneath deep snow at the timberline.
Words to know
- kid
- a baby goat or mountain goat
- goat-antelope
- a group of hoofed animals that includes the mountain goat and the chamois
- mineral lick
- a place where animals lick soil or rock to get salt and other minerals
- escape terrain
- steep, rocky ground where an animal can get away from predators
- underfur
- the soft, thick fur close to an animal's skin that keeps it warm
Discovery challenge
-
Where do mountain goats like to be?
Where do mountain goats go to stay safe from predators?
Which terrain do mountain goats rely on to escape predators?
- Steep, rocky cliffs
- Deep lakes
- Hot, sandy deserts
Show the answer
Steep, rocky cliffs
Mountain goats climb steep cliffs, where they are safe.
They stay on steep cliffs, where predators find it hard to follow.
Steep, rocky escape terrain: goats climb onto icy cliffs where predators are loath to follow.
-
What do the rings on a mountain goat's horns show?
What can the rings on a mountain goat's horns tell scientists?
What do the annual growth rings on a mountain goat's horns record?
- How old it is
- What it ate today
- Whether it will snow
Show the answer
How old it is
Each ring is one year. Count them to find its age.
A new ring grows each year, and the horns are never shed, so the rings show the goat's age.
Its age: horns are permanent and add an annual growth ring.
-
Who is the boss most of the year?
Outside the mating season, which mountain goats are in charge?
Outside the breeding season, which mountain goats are dominant?
- Grown-up females
- Grown-up males
- The youngest kids
Show the answer
Grown-up females
The grown-up girl goats are the bosses.
Adult females are in charge, and males give way to them.
Adult females; adult males are then subordinate to females and even to juveniles.
-
Why do mountain goats lick rocks and soil?
Why do mountain goats visit mineral licks?
Why do mountain goats leave their cliffs in summer to visit mineral licks?
- To get minerals their bodies need
- To clean their teeth
- To drink seawater
Show the answer
To get minerals their bodies need
The rocks have salt and minerals that keep goats healthy.
Mineral licks give them salt and other minerals that their bodies need.
To take in minerals such as inorganic sulfur, which rumen microbes use to make amino acids for hair growth.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, or Rockies, stretch about 4,800 kilometers from northern Canada to New Mexico in the United States. They include more than 100 separate ranges, and their highest peak, Mount Elbert in Colorado, is 4,399 meters tall. Glaciers carved their peaks and valleys, and famous parks such as Banff, Jasper and Yellowstone protect their lakes, hot springs and wildlife.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Banff National Park
Banff National Park lies in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, in western Canada. It began in 1885 around a group of hot springs, which makes it Canada's first national park. Today it covers 6,641 square kilometers of jagged peaks, glaciers, forests and turquoise lakes such as Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, and it is home to grizzly bears, wolves, elk and many more animals.
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3D
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Domestic goat
Domestic goats are lively farm animals that came from a wild goat of Asia. They reach up to nibble leaves, twigs and weeds that other farm animals leave behind, and people keep them for milk, cheese, meat, wool and leather.
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Country
Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, or Rockies, stretch about 4,800 kilometers from northern Canada to New Mexico in the United States. They include more than 100 separate ranges, and their highest peak, Mount Elbert in Colorado, is 4,399 meters tall. Glaciers carved their peaks and valleys, and famous parks such as Banff, Jasper and Yellowstone protect their lakes, hot springs and wildlife.
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Puma
The puma, also called the cougar or mountain lion, is a big, slender cat with plain tan fur and a long tail. It lives in more of the Americas than any other wild cat, from Canada all the way to the southern tip of South America, in mountains, forests, deserts and swamps.
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Golden eagle
The golden eagle is one of the largest and fastest birds of prey in North America, and it lives across much of the Northern Hemisphere. It soars over mountains and open country on wings more than two meters wide and dives at tremendous speed to catch rabbits, hares and ground squirrels.
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Muskox
Muskoxen are shaggy Arctic grazers with long coats that nearly reach the ground and a super-warm underwool called qiviut. Herds protect their calves by standing in a ring with their horns facing out. Despite the name, they are more closely related to goats and sheep than to oxen.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Banff National Park
Banff National Park lies in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, in western Canada. It began in 1885 around a group of hot springs, which makes it Canada's first national park. Today it covers 6,641 square kilometers of jagged peaks, glaciers, forests and turquoise lakes such as Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, and it is home to grizzly bears, wolves, elk and many more animals.
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Aardvark
The aardvark is a shy night digger of African savannas. It sniffs out ant and termite nests, rips them open with its spade-like claws and laps up the insects with a sticky tongue about 30 centimeters long. Its name means 'earth pig' in Afrikaans.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how a mountain goat's hooves, coat and behavior suit life on cliffs.
- Explain that the mountain goat is a goat-antelope, related to but different from true goats.
- Describe the mountain goat's life cycle and its unusual female-led social order.
- Understand why wildlife scientists monitor both native and introduced mountain goats.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a steep cliff be a safer place for a baby goat than a meadow?
- Why would scientists worry about mountain goats living in a place where they are not native?
- How is a mountain goat's hoof like a climbing shoe?
Try at home or in class
- Compare how well a plastic toy and a rubber eraser grip when you tilt a smooth board, to see why soft soles help on rock.
- Look at the rings on a cut log or a tree stump and talk about how growth rings can show age.
Key vocabulary: kid, goat-antelope, mineral lick, escape terrain, underfur
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Mountain goat , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Oreamnos americanus (mountain goat) , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
- Oreamnos americanus (global assessment) , IUCN Red List
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.