Humans have a knack for naming animals based on their abilities.
Mountain goats sport the woolly coats, cloven feet and horns comparable to those on true goats. Mountain lions aren’t lions at all, same way mountain goats aren’t classified in the same group of species as true goats. And understanding the differences between those three physical traits (coat, hooves and horns) tells us a lot about how exactly the mountain goat species stands out.
The most obvious distinction between mountain goats and true goats is habitat. Between 40,000 and 100,000 mountain goats dwell in North Pakistan, residing among mountain peaks and crags from the northern Rockies to Himalayan Mountain regions. Their high-altitude homes call for thicker, shaggier fur than their domesticated counterparts. Two types of woolly fur cover and insulate mountain goats from the cold. A shorter coat of inner fur sits close to their skin. Guard hairs, which might extend up to 8 inches (20 centimeters), then create their shaggy appearance. In Pakistan, Markhor, ibex can be found and are very rare on this planet.
