Mountain Goats Research Articles

Helicopter‐Based Chemical Immobilization of Mountain Goats in Coastal Alaska

ABSTRACTThe development, evaluation, and refinement of effective and humane capture methods for wildlife studies is important for increasing our capacity to understand and effectively manageand conserve wildlife populations. Carfentanil has been the primary agent used to chemically immobilize mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) during the past 40 years. However, carfentanil is no longer commercially available for wildlife captures in North America. To investigate viable alternatives for mountain goat capture, we conducted field trials using thiafentanil to immobilize free‐ranging mountain goats via aerial darting methods; thiafentanil responses were then compared to a standard and widely used carfentanil dose. During June–October, 2005–2020, we immobilized mountain goats with either 2.4–3.0 mg carfentanil (n = 444) or 6.0–7.0 mg thiafentanil (n = 68) across a range of different field conditions at 6 different study sites in coastal Alaska. Induction and recovery times were more rapid (and subsequent immobilization times reduced) using thiafentanil compared to carfentanil. In most other respects, however, immobilization characteristics (i.e., body temperature, pulse rate, relative oxygen saturation) were virtually indistinguishable between individuals immobilized with carfentanil or thiafentanil. During typical immobilizations, mean rectal temperature increased 1.8° C, but increased as much as 3.0° C in some extreme cases. Administration of supplemental oxygen resulted in substantial, potentially clinically significant increases in peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, arterial oxygen, and pH in immobilized mountain goats. Our findings indicate that thiafentanil is an effective alternative to carfentanil for chemical immobilization of mountain goats and may offer some important advantages, particularly when immobilizing mountain goats and other species in difficult and potentially dangerous capture environments. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

PRODUCTIVITY TRAITS OF LOCAL MOUNTAIN GOAT AND SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THEM

The aim of the current investigation was to evaluate some reproductive aspects of local mountain goat raised in farm conditions. A total number of 498 does were mated during two successive years. Results revealed that fertility, conception, kidding, productivity and twinning rates averaged 80.72, 87.15, 84.94, 72.29 and 5.22 %, respectively. Litter size at birth and weaning were 1.05 and 0.9 respectively. Also, all above traits were significantly lower in does aged 2.5 years as compared with older does except those of litter size at birth and weaning. Effect of year of mating was found to be significant only on conception rate. Does mated in August resulted in a significant increase in the studied traits compared with that mated in September and October except those in twinning rate, litter size at birth and weaning. The regressions of litter size at birth and twinning rate on dam’s body weights were significant.

Staying close to home: Ecological constraints on space use and range fidelity in a mountain ungulate.

Understanding patterns of animal space use and range fidelity has important implications for species and habitat conservation. For species that live in highly seasonal environments, such as mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), spatial use patterns are expected to vary in relation to seasonal changes in environmental conditions and sex‐ or age‐specific selection pressures. To address hypotheses about sex, age, and seasonality influence on space‐use ecology, we collected GPS location data from 263 radio‐collared mountain goats (males, n = 140; females, n = 123) in coastal Alaska during 2005–2016. Location data were analyzed to derive seasonal and sex‐specific fixed‐kernel home range estimates and to quantify the degree of seasonal range and utilization distribution overlap. Overall, we determined that home range size was smallest during winter, expanded coincident with the onset of green‐up and parturition, and was largest during summer. Home range size of males and females did not differ significantly during winter, but females had larger home ranges than males during summer, a relationship that was switched during the mating season. Pairwise comparisons involving individual females across subsequent years indicated home ranges were significantly smaller during years when they gave birth to offspring. Mountain goats exhibited a strong degree of range fidelity, and 99% (n = 138) of individual animals returned to their previous year's seasonal range with an average annual Bhattacharyya's affinity utilization distribution overlap index of 68%. Similarity of seasonal home range utilization distributions varied in relation to sex and season in some respects. Home range overlap was highest during the summer vegetation growing season, particularly among females. These findings advance our understanding about how environmental variation and sex‐ and age‐related reproductive constraints influence space use and range fidelity among alpine ungulates. Documentation of the high degree of range fidelity among mountain goats has important conservation implications in landscapes increasingly altered by anthropogenic activities.

Human-Wolf (Canis lupus) Conflict in Upper Mustang of Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Human-wolf conflict has been one of the major issues in the Himalayan region of Nepal. It has obstructed the sustainable management initiatives in Annapurna Conservation Area. The aim of this study is to assess the status of human-wolf conflict, conservation threats to wolf and people’s perception towards this endangered carnivore. Questionnaire survey was conducted in different wards of three rural municipalities (RM) of the Upper Mustang. Similarly, key informants were interviewed followed by several discussions with stakeholders. The results indicate “wolf’s preference for domestic livestock” as the most probable cause of depredation with IRR value 0.91. The number of victims was found highest in Lomanthang RM (ward number 2) where 90% of respondents reported to be victims. However, in terms of the loss in monetary value, Lo-Ghekar Damodarkunda RM (ward number 4) ranked highest with the loss of NRs. 55,880 (≈$479.1)/HH/year and Barhagaun Muktichhetra (ward number 3) is the least affected. Similarly, by number, mountain goat casualties (172) were highest in last 5 years, but the maximum economic loss was due to the horse depredation (NRs. 68,00,000 or $57,347.20) among sampled households. The results indicate that the negative perception of local people is the major threat to wolf. Active participation of local people in conservation and awareness program can play a vital role to reduce and mitigate the human-wolf conflict at community level.

Псороптоз овець і диких кіз: клінічний прояв та лікування в умовах антропобіоценозів

Among the ectoparasitoses of small ruminants, psoroptosis has an important place - a common acarosis disease caused by a permanent ectoparasite of the genus Psoroptes (Psoroptidae: Acariformes). This highly contagious invasion causes huge economic losses in many countries with developed sheep breeding. The aim of the work is to study the distribution and analyze the clinical signs in psoroptosis in sheep and wild goats. Research objectives: to determine the effectiveness of drugs in psoroptosis of sheep and wild goats in conditions of anthropobiocenoses. The material was skin scrapings from 63 sheep (Ovis aries) of fine-fleece breeds: Prekos and Romanovskaya, which belonged to the Scientific and Production Center of Kharkiv State Zooveterinary Academy (SPC KhSZVA) and from 17 wild goats: 14 Siberian mountain goats (Capra siberica) and 3 Marhura (Capra falconeri), which belonged to Government Organization (GO) «Feldman Eco-Park». The acarological study has carried out by the compressor method using a 50 % aqueous solution of glycerin and a 10 % alkali solution (KOH). For the treatment of sheep and wild goats, macrolides «Iveron-10», «Dectomax» were used at a dose of 0.2 ml per 10 kg of animal body weight, twice at 30 and 14 day intervals, respectively. In addition, a synthetic pyrethroid «Butox-50» by the bathing method in water emulsion (twice at 10 day intervals) after shearing sheep, in diluted 1 ml per 1 liter of water ex tempore. The infestation of sheep and wild goats by Psoroptes ovis mites (Hering, 1838) in 2017–2019 was 100 % with varying degrees of body surface damage. In 65.1 % of sheep of the SPC KhSZVA, hair loss was observed on 80–100 % of the body surface, in 28.6 % of animals – 50–79 % of the surface, 6.3 % – less than 50 % of the body surface. In 94.1 % of wild goats of the GO «Feldman Eco-Park», lesions were recorded up to 50 % of the body surface, and in 5.9 % – total lesion. Total lesion in wild goats was characterized by lesions of the surface of the head, ears and neck with significant keratinization of the skin to the inner layers with deep cracks and bleeding, and in sheep, by lesions of the entire surface of the body. Mortality in sheep was 3.2 %, and in wild goats - 5.9 % with generalized form. The applied treatment regimens of sheep and wild goats for psoroptosis with injectable preparations «Iveron-10» and «Dectomax», respectively, at a dose of 0.2 ml per 10 kg of animal body weight, twice at 30 and 14 day intervals with additional bathing of sheep in water emulsion of «Butox-50» (twice at 10 day intervals) showed 100 % efficiency.

COVID-19 and the opportunities for research: The lockdowns' impacts on wildlife, ecology and conservation biology, and the humanities.

The ongoing lockdowns provide ideal conditions to study the relationship between wildlife and humans but among humans themselves.

Gut microbiome composition predicts summer core range size in two divergent ungulates.

The gut microbiome of animals vary by age, diet, and habitat, and directly influences an individual's health. Similarly, variation in home ranges is linked to feeding strategies and fitness. Ungulates (hooved mammals) exhibit species-specific microbiomes and habitat use patterns. We combined gut microbiome and movement data to assess relationships between space use and the gut microbiome in a specialist and a generalist ungulate. We GPS radiocollared 24 mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) and 34 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), collected fecal samples, and conducted high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. We generated gut diversity metrics and key bacterial ratios. Our research question centred around the idea that larger Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratios confer body size or fat advantages that allow for larger home ranges, and relationships of disproportionate habitat use are stronger in the habitat specialist mountain goat. Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratios were positively correlated with core range area in both species. Mountain goats exhibited a negative relationship between gut diversity and proportional use of treed areas and escape terrain, and no relationships were detected in the habitat generalist white-tailed deer. This is the first study to relate range size to the gut microbiome in wild ungulates and is an important proof of concept that advances the information that can be gleaned from non-invasive sampling.

Growth and reproduction trade‐offs can estimate previous reproductive history in alpine ungulates

Abstract Life‐history theory predicts energy allocation trade‐offs between traits when resources are limited. If females reduce allocation to growth when they reproduce, annual growth could reveal past reproductive effort, which would be useful to assess population dynamics and harvest sustainability. The potential and accuracy of growth measures for predicting reproductive success have rarely been evaluated with individuals with known reproductive history. We used long‐term monitoring of annual growth and reproduction of marked female bighorn sheep and mountain goats, two species in which primiparity normally occurs well before growth completion, to evaluate growth versus reproduction trade‐offs and their potential for predicting reproductive history of young females using mixed models and 10‐fold block cross‐validation. We documented a significant reduction in mass gain and horn growth in young reproducing females of both species. This trade‐off was affected by individual differences in energy acquisition and allocation because population density and previous allocation to growth affected the trade‐off. We then parameterized models to predict individual reproductive history of young females based on the growth traits subjected to a reproductive trade‐off. The accuracy of predictive models ranged from 85.2% to 91.0% across species and traits, indicating that growth is a good predictor of reproductive history. This method is especially useful for population management of species with traits that form permanent visible yearly annuli because they retain a record of annual growth that allows retrospective estimation of reproductive history over multiple years. Synthesis and applications. We show that because growth significantly decreased in years of allocation to reproduction, annual growth increments provide insights on reproductive history of young females. Population or temporal differences in reproduction of young females affect demographic rates and sustainable harvest. Growth measures of traits that form yearly annuli, such as teeth and horns, could be easily obtained at a low cost from animals harvested or found dead in multiple species. Thus, predictive models of reproductive history based on annual growth could assist conservation and management in a broad range of species.

Metabarcoding of fecal DNA shows dietary diversification in wolves substitutes for ungulates in an island archipelago

AbstractAlthough ungulates are the main prey of wolves (Canis lupus) throughout their range, substantial dietary diversity may allow wolves to persist even when ungulates are declining or rare. Alexander Archipelago wolves (Canis lupus ligoni) inhabit distinct mainland and island biogeographic units, each with a unique assemblage of available prey. We quantified biogeographic variability in wolf diets across the archipelago using DNA metabarcoding of prey in 860 wolf scats collected during 2010–2018 in 12 study sites. We hypothesized that wolves would increase their dietary diversity and niche breadth as the proportion of ungulate species in their diets decreased, but that this could be mediated by the availability of coastal resources. Application of DNA metabarcoding achieved fine taxonomic resolution of prey remains and identified 55 diet items representing species from 42 genera and 29 families, many previously undetected in coastal wolf diets. Overall, ungulates made up the largest proportion of wolf diets but were also most variable between study sites (occurrence per item index [O/I] = 0.130–0.851). On islands, Sitka black‐tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) were the most consumed ungulate species, whereas moose (Alces alces) and mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) contributed more to mainland wolf diets. Wolves responded to biogeographical variation in availability of their primary prey by altering their foraging patterns. Wolves increased the number and diversity of species consumed and widened their dietary niche as the proportion of ungulates in their diet declined rather than prey switch to one or few individual diet items. Across all study sites combined, beaver (Castor canadensis; O/I = 0.125), marine mammals (O/I = 0.113), and black bears (Ursus americanus; O/I = 0.067) were important alternate prey. In areas where ungulates had become scarce, sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were particularly important, in one case even becoming the primary diet item suggesting that the ongoing expansion of sea otter populations postreintroduction restores an important food source for these cryptic predators. Here, we show extensive variation in the diet of wolves and elucidate regional consumer–resource interactions across an archipelagic landscape.

Средневековые тамги-петроглифы из урочища Уле в низовьях р. Чаган-Узун

This article is the first publication of a new location of rock carved tamga signs, which was recently discovered in the valley of the Chagan River (the tributary of the Chuya River) in the Ule site in the Russian Altai Mountains. The accumulation of the tamga-like signs occupies four flat rock surfaces; the signs are placed in a row one next to the other at about the level of human height. In total, nine signs of seven different types can be identified: in the form of the Greek letter “omega,” mountain goat, snake, “ram’s horns,” etc. The tamgas were created at different times and were renewed at later periods. The earliest images belong to the Old Turkic period. Individual tamgas might have been created in the 17th-18th centuries. Relative dating as well as ethnic and cultural attribution of identity signs at the Ule site are established using regional mapping of monuments where the parallels to the Ule tamga-like images appear. Thus, the omega-shaped tamga has the closest parallels in the Russian Altai, including in the valley of the Chagan River, and in the Mongolian Altai; the main area of such tamga and its derivative forms is the southwestern part of the Semirechye and the Issyk-Kul region. The authors suggest that this was the evidence of the initial settlement of a certain group which owned the omega-shaped tamga as a common sign of collective identity in the Altai, and the subsequent large-scale resettlement of several related ethnic subdivisions in new territories in the Northern Tien Shan. The tamga in the form of a snake is believed to have designated not some individual clan or tribe, but served as a common tribal symbol and emblem of a large ethnopolitical association of nomads, like the Tele or Toquz-Oghuz. The tamga of a distinctive shape of two connected arcs also finds parallels in the Semirechie, where it has been found at the Almaly II Old Turkic runic site together with tamga of the Bayundur tribe which was a part of the Oghuz union.

From the shelves and into the world: Imagining information literacy in the everyday

When I was the instruction librarian at York College of Pennsylvania, I hosted From the Shelves, a show on WVYC, the campus radio station. Outside of teaching, it was my favorite part of the job. I played music spanning genres and artists: the Mountain Goats, Petula Clark, XTC, De La Soul, and Katy Perry. Part of the fun was planning themed editions: two hours of music built around a central idea (e.g., foreign-language versions of popular songs, songs featuring spelling, and songs containing cowbell).

Необычный сюжет в петроглифах Хара Джамат Гола – охота на медведя (Монгольский Алтай)

The petroglyphs left by the inhabitants of the mountains and steppes of Eurasia are very numerous. The main subjects include hunting, warfare, weaponry, wheeled vehicles, and many more. For thousands of years, the most common subject was wild animals. The article presents a rare subject of petroglyphs from the Mongolian Altai. During the survey of the Khara Jamat Gol valley, accumulation of petroglyphs was found on the left bank of the river in the Sabi-Salaa area in the northwestern Mongolia near the Mongolian-Russian border. A multifigured composition of bear hunt with dogs chasing and attacking bears was pecked on a vertical slate slab. Hunters are armed with bows and clubs. The manner of rendering people and animals points to the Bronze Age as the time when this composition was created. In the mountains and steppes of Eurasia, bears were represented on the petroglyphs much less often than other animals, such as mountain goats, red deer, bulls, elks, wild boars, feline predators, and wolves). The interaction of bears and humans was reproduced only in two places in the Mongolian Altai. This rare subject finds parallels in the rock art of Fennoscandia. The composition of hunting bear with dogs is known from Pegtymel - the northernmost place of the Asian petroglyphs. Unusual subjects on the rocks of the Sabi Salaa in the Mongolian Altai and in the Tsagaan-Gol valley reflect the hunting practices of cattle breeders from the Sayan-Altai region in the Bronze Age. Obviously, brown bears would appear from time to time in high-mountain valleys of the Mongolian Altai and were hunted by the local population.

Изображения лучников на петроглифах Чолпон-Ата в Кыргызстане

The article is intended to study several images depicting archers embossed on stone boulders, located near the present settlement Cholpon-Ata, which is situated at the northern coast of Issyk-Kul Lake in the Kyrgyz Republic. These anthropomorphous characters are made on the surface of large boulders as a part of hunting scenes, or in a single fashion. The archers are displayed ready for shooting at disproportionally large figures of wild ungulate animals, mountain goats, and argali. They are performed in the animal style traditional for the Saki period Tian Shan petroglyphs supplemented with ornament elements, put on croup or on the largest part of the torso of these wild ungulate animals. Figures of hunters are depicted bearing bows in their hands. The images show compound bows and arrows with tips of different shapes. A single figure of a horseman is displayed riding a horse and holding bow with taken off bowstring, placed in the bow quiver. Weapons, bows, arrows of the ancient archers are shown in a position ready for shooting at various targets or in a stowed position. Bows are shown with concave shoulders in the firing direction and placed bowstrings. Separate bows are shown with shoulders tops oriented towards the firing direction. The tops of several arrows are highlighted. One of such tops is issued in a semicircular ending. Based on these images of bows and arrows, ancient nomads of the Scythian and Saki times in Tian Shan regarded bows and arrows as the main type of hunting weapon, and possibly used them for hunting widely.

Многослойная палеолитическая стоянка Малишина Стена в Черногории: результаты исследований 2021 года

The article presents new evidence from the excavations in Malisina Stijena rock shelter located in the north of the Republic of Montenegro. Excavation in 2021 over the area of 2 х 3 m was made at the drip line in the eastern part of the rock shelter. Deposits up to 2 m thick were exposed. Lithological layers A1-A4, B1, B2, C, and D were identified in the section. Archaeological evidence occurred in most units with the exception of layers A3 and D. Primary reduction in layers C and B was aimed at producing flakes, less frequently, blades following the radial, Levallois, and parallel primary reduction techniques. The toolkit combined typical Middle Paleolithic varieties, such as Mousterian points, Levallois points, and side-scrapers of various types, with the objects typical of the Upper Paleolithic, such as end-scrapers, piercing tools, as well as chisel-like and truncated-faceted tools. Faunal remains testify to hunting large herbivores, such as bison, red deer, and mountain goat. Bones of a hare and large birds were also discovered. Local raw materials from the gravel of the Cehotina River were used for tool production. The closest cultural and chronological parallels to these industries can be found in the complexes of the Final Middle Paleolithic from the sites of Bioce and Crvena Stijena in Central Montenegro. Lithic industry from layer A was distinguished by well-developed small and micro-laminar technique. The toolkit contained the varieties typical of the Final Upper Paleolithic, including backed microblades, microliths, gravettoid points, and small end-scrapers. There is evidence of systematic fishing and hunting birds and small mammals.

I Only Perform To The Mountain Goats by Anja Keister

I Only Perform To The Mountain Goats by Anja Keister

Deyimlerden Hareketle Petroglifler Çözümlenebilir Mi?: Teke Petrogliflerinde Kuyruk Tipleri ve Anlamları Üzerine

Petroglyphs are important language of communication of history without illustrators and readers. In this article, the possibility of analyzing petroglyph based on idioms emphasizes and a research method model is presented. Tail types encountered in tamgha shaped mountain goat figures were investigated by using “The Method of Petroglyph Analysis based on Idioms”. The results of analysis on selected idioms from three dialect groups of Turkish language showed that ‘tail’ refers ‘honor’ and ‘power’. Accordingly, the long and upright tailed mountain goat tamgha is the symbol of honor and power of khan. Another conclusion is the limiting rule in drawing these figures. Accordingly, the tamghas drawn must correspond to the social status of the person it represents. So the long upright tail could be drawn to represent the khan and the dynasty. All of these conclusions points out the importance of petroglyphs, as a visual material, in the social communication process.

Qazaqstan aımaǵyndaǵy kúlbіzіk jazba eskertkіshterі

Since the middle of the XIX century, ancient inscriptions written on silver bowls, bracelets, and bronze mirrors have been found in large numbers on the territory of Kazakhstan from the surface of the earth and archaeological excavations. Currently, the number of such Turkic runic inscriptions is increasing every year. The first Kazakh scientist who found and tried to reveal their meanings was A. Amanzholov. He named such inscriptions found from Kazakhstan, summarizing them by local values as Irtysh, ili, Syrdarya and Ural. The most valuable was the inscription on the silver bowl, found as a result of archaeological excavations from the Issyk mound. Linguists who came from the Academy of Sciences of the former Soviet Union made a categorical conclusion, without presenting any arguments, that the Issyk inscription is in the Iranian language, and cannot be read in the Turkic languages. But Kazakh researchers, not agreeing with this conclusion, began to read this inscription in the ancient Turkic language. Comparing and analyzing these studies, we published our reading in 1993. After that, until 2009, we updated and supplemented our readings three times. One of the Irtysh inscriptions tells about the danger of vodka and wine for human life. And the second tells about the coolness inside the mountain gorge. In the inscriptions found in the Zhetysu area, special attention was paid to hunting. They describe the sensitivity and extreme caution of the mountain goat. The Talgar inscription speaks of yarn and the spinning profession. In one of the aulieatinsky inscriptions, on the seal is written the phrase «my word», and on a large stone about the immensity of the country of the Karakhanids. And the Syrdarya inscription mentions the greatness of the Syrdarya river.

Integrating Genetic Data and Demographic Modeling to Facilitate Conservation of Small, Isolated Mountain Goat Populations

ABSTRACTAcquisition of field data and analytical methods needed for conservation and management of wildlife populations represent significant challenges, particularly for species that inhabit landscapes that are difficult to access or species that persist in small, isolated populations. In such instances, integrating diverse and complementary data streams, such as genetic and non‐genetic data, can advance our understanding of population dynamics and associated management implications. We examined how genetic and morphologic data can be used to articulate population structure of a low‐density, peninsular population of mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) on the Cleveland Peninsula, Alaska, USA, and surrounding areas, 2005–2018. We then use a population demographic modeling approach to examine how the use of population structure information influences sustainable harvest quotas, as compared to a panmictic, null model. Specifically, we conducted extensive field sampling of genetic (n = 446) and morphologic (i.e., horn length, n = 371) data to characterize population structure. We conducted demographic analyses and examined harvest modeling scenarios using a sex‐ and age‐specific matrix population modeling approach. Genetic and morphologic data analyses suggested peninsular subpopulations were demographically isolated, relative to surrounding mainland populations. Specifically, genetic structuring was evident and followed an isolation‐by‐distance, stepping‐stone pattern indicating limited interchange, low effective population sizes, and reduced genetic diversity along a peninsular extremity to mainland gradient. Harvest modeling indicated that overharvest would likely occur if the panmictic, null model was used to guide harvest because the smallest genetically defined population at the peninsular extremity was too small to permit any level of sustainable harvest. Our analyses illustrate the importance of using genetic and morphologic data, in combination with demographic modeling, to quantitatively delineate population boundaries and dynamics for ensuring viability of small, isolated populations. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

42 Genetic differentiation of Russian goats and wild relatives based on microsatellite loci

Abstract Goat breeding is a traditional livestock industry for many regions of Russia. Due to unpretentiousness and high adaptive qualities, the Karachai, Dagestan wool and Dagestan down breeds are widespread in the North Caucasus. Moreover, their uniqueness is determined by sharing a common habitat with their wild relatives, West Caucasian and Dagestani turs, thus forming hybrid zones. The aim of the research was to study allele pool and interbreed differentiation of domestic goat breeds and wild relatives by microsatellites. Research was performed based on 16 loci on the ABI 3130xl analyzer. Population genetic characteristics were calculated in GenAlEx 6.5, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed in Populations 1.2.30 and SplitsTree 4.14.5. The sample collection included goat breeds (n = 226): Karachai (KRCH), Dagestan down (DAGD), Dagestan wool (DAGW) (North Caucasus), Soviet wool (SOVW) (Siberia), Orenburg (OREN) (South Ural), and wild goats (n = 72). Wild goats comprised mountain goats: Siberian goats (Capra sibirica) from the Altai, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and the Himalayas; bezoar goats (Capra aegagrus) from Turkey and Pakistan; and tur (Capra caucasica) from the West Caucasus (Kuban), Central Caucasus, and East Caucasus (Dagestan). The Karachai breed was characterized by the highest level of genetic diversity: the average number of alleles per locus (NA) and allelic richness (AR) were 9,154 and 7,713, respectively, while these indices varied from 6,538 to 7,538 and from 6,425 to 7,538 (Table 1) in other breeds, respectively. The values of genetic distances showed differentiation of Karachai, Dagestan down and Dagestan wool breeds from Orenburg and Soviet wool breeds (Table 2). The formation of three clusters was established. The first one included subspecies of the Caucasian tur, the second one comprised Siberian goats, and the third contained domestic goats. Bezoar goats were in the root of the third cluster that confirmed their participation as an ancestral form of domestic goats.

Patterns of decadal, seasonal and daily visitation to mineral licks, a critical resource hotspot for mountain goats Oreamnos americanus in the Rocky Mountains

Concentrated resources or hotspots, within an individual's usual home range may be strong determinates of movement behavior. We evaluated the patterns of mineral lick use by a population of mountain goats Oreamnos americanus displaying high site fidelity at two mineral licks along the Trans‐Canada Highway in the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. Access to these mineral licks was characterized by deliberate and repetitive movements into marginal habitat. We describe the patterns of mineral lick use over decadal, seasonal and daily periods by using dendrochronological analysis of trampling scars along mountain goat trails, movements determined from GPS collar locations, and camera traps placed along trails and at mineral licks, respectively. Our findings suggest that mountain goats have strong trans‐generational behavioral traditions and that they predictably access mineral licks using the same trails, seasons and daily patterns. Differences in the patterns of mineral lick visitation between males and females may be related to reproductive and nutritional status, while their nocturnal use appears to be a response to disturbance at the mineral licks. Understanding how animals adjust their behavior in response to highly localized resource hotspots outside their usual home range can provide valuable information for the management of these critical habitat features and the wider conservation of mountain goat populations.