Description: This small goat species has course hair which ranges in color from white to black. Both sexes have horns, but the males are longer and thicker for display during courtship. They also have a beard of longer hairs extending from their chin, which tends to be longer on males.

Range/Habitat: Originally African plains - now domesticated and worldwide in distribution.

Adaptations: Predator avoidance - horns, cloven hooves and good balance for climbing.

Diet: Grasses, twigs, leaves.

Remarks: African Pygmy Goats, originally from Africa, were introduced to other areas by whalers who found that they were easily transported, and were a great source of milk and meat on long voyages. They are still used today for that purpose. However, these ruminants (regurgitate food and chew it again in order to get the most nutrients possible from its highly indigestible cellulose diet) are destructive pets which destroy the land on which they graze. These are very social animals which use group strength to protect themselves from predators, usually large carnivores. When threatened, the herd will form a ring with the pregnant females and young in the center. Females will actually stimulate pregnancy in order to gain the extra protection that condition invokes from the herd.

Card by Henson Robinson Zoo Education Department.

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