1. Where wild goats, the ancestors of domestic goats, live: steep, rocky slopes
The ancestors of domestic goats are wild goats, known as Bezoars. They live in lands with many forests and shrubs, as well as rocky areas, stretching from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in the east.[1] They particularly prefer steep slopes with many rocks. There are records stating that in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, they can be seen up to an elevation of 3,250 m, and in the Caucasus up to 2,700 m. However, since numbers differ in other sources, it is safer to understand this as "they live on mountains of about 3,000 m."[1]
Close relatives also live in high places. The markhor lives in the Himalayas and Afghanistan, while ibex species live in high places in the Alps, the Caucasus, and northwestern India.[2] Goat relatives were originally mountain animals. So, what do they eat to live on top of cliffs?
2. Why goats' skill at climbing cliffs is linked to eating tree leaves
Goats like to climb high places. They love tree leaves and not only eat from low shrubs but sometimes climb branches of high trees to eat the leaves.[2] While cows and sheep are animals that eat grass, goats are animals that eat tree leaves and shrubs as well.[5] Even on rocky mountains where grass is scarce, they can eat shrubs and tree leaves. Being able to climb cliffs and being able to eat tree leaves are both considered powers for living on rocky mountains.
A plan document from Okinawa Prefecture also states that goats eat leaves, buds, and bark of trees and grass, prefer high places, and can move across steep cliffs. It also includes a statement that they are said to dislike humidity and rain, and not to eat wet grass.[3] Because it is written as "said to be," it cannot be said that all goats do this. How did a mountain animal spread all over the world? The key was that people began living with goats.
3. When and where people began living with goats: the Zagros Mountains about 10,000 years ago
The ancestors of domestic goats are wild Bezoars. It is thought that the Bezoars now living in the Zagros Mountains are considered the ancestors of most of today’s domestic goats.[5] A 2021 paper in PNAS examined the DNA of bones from 32 goats found in the Zagros Mountains in western Iran. The results report that about 10,200 years ago, there were goats that had already started walking the path to becoming domesticated by humans, even if they still looked wild.[4] However, this is not a story that claims "this is the only origin," but rather a reading that one of the main ancestors was found.
Early owners reportedly mainly ate males before they reached breeding age and kept females alive for a long time to have offspring. This is similar to livestock farming still done locally today.[7] The dates vary depending on the source. A Japanese encyclopedia writes that bones presumed to be those of domestic goats have been found at the Jericho site in Jordan, and domestication is thought to have been established around 7000 BC.[2] It is safer to accept this as a range of "around 10,000 years ago." Where did goats, who started living with humans, spread to after that?
4. How goats spread to Asia and Africa, reaching over 1.1 billion today
As of 2022, the number of goats in the world exceeded 1.1 billion, with India having about 150 million.[5] Calculating this, about 1 in 7 goats in the world is in India (1.5 ÷ 11 ≈ 0.14). A site summarizing FAO statistics (2024) lists India, China, and Nigeria in order of highest numbers, with top spots occupied by Asian and African countries.[8] Note that the figure of about 150 million in India for 2022 and the Indian figures in the 2024 statistics differ in year and aggregation method. Do not mix these two numbers in calculations.
It is thought that goats were able to spread because they have an eating habit of consuming tree leaves and the power to climb, making it easy for them not to choose specific land. Goats that became wild after escaping or being released (feral goats) are also found in various places such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the Galapagos Islands.[5] Goats also came to Japan. What happened there?
5. Why goats, not originally native to Japan, became wild on islands
Goats are native to West Asia and were not originally in Japan. According to an Okinawa Prefecture plan document, they are said to have been brought in as livestock around the 15th century, and those that escaped or were released became feral goats.[3] Within Okinawa Prefecture, feral goat populations are thought to exist on at least 18 islands, including the Okinawa Islands, Kerama Islands, and Yaeyama Islands. There are concerns about vegetation destruction and soil erosion, as well as impacts on endemic species like the Iriomote cat, in Iriomote Island and the Yanbaru region.[3]
In Iriomote Island, feral goats started appearing on surveillance cameras around 2017, and even after 61 were captured in 2021–22, the Ministry of the Environment and the prefecture think there are more than imagined, as reported by the Ryukyu Shimpo in July 2022.[9] Here, we look at the impact of feral goats on island plants and creatures. Goats are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "World's Worst 100 Invasive Alien Species" and Japan's "Invasive Alien Species Worst 100."[3] The power to climb cliffs and eat tree leaves had a different meaning on islands.
6. How plants and seabirds recovered in the Ogasawara Islands after measures against invasive goats
In the Ogasawara Islands, feral goats that became wild after being brought in with human migration ate plants, causing vegetation to collapse and soil to erode. Materials from the Ministry of the Environment and others state that on uninhabited islands in the Mukojima and Chichijima island groups, feral goats were eradicated, and combined with other invasive species measures, significant results such as the recovery of endemic plants and seabirds were achieved.[6]
As examples of recovery, rare plants have returned to islands like Anijima and Ototojima. However, places like cliffs that are difficult to remove remain. Furthermore, there is concern that invasive plants that feral goats were eating might increase, and investigations are still ongoing.[10] Because feral goats brought by humans increased and affected island vegetation, monitoring efforts continue even after removal.
So far, we have learned that goats were mountain animals, that their ability to eat tree leaves probably made them less picky about where they live, and that they spread worldwide by living with humans. If you can see a goat nearby, you can observe these abilities for yourself.
7. What to observe when you meet a goat: what it eats and where it climbs
If you can see a goat at a zoo or a petting farm, try observing these three things: What is it eating (grass or tree leaves)? Where does it try to climb? Does it go outside on rainy days, or stay under a roof? You can check if the habits mentioned in this article's materials apply to the goat in front of you. "They do not eat wet grass" is a "said to be" story, so it is not a failure if it does not apply.
When touching, please follow the rules of the staff. Only give the designated feed. If you want to learn more, the Okinawa Prefecture Feral Goat Control Plan[3] and the Ministry of the Environment's materials on the Ogasawara Islands[6][10] are available in Japanese. They describe the order in which island goats were managed.