Cretan wild goat

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Cretan wild goat
Cretan wild goat (Capra aegagrus cretica)

Cretan wild goat ( Capra aegagrus cretica )

Systematics
Family : Horned Bearers (Bovidae)
Subfamily : Antilopinae
Tribe : Goatsies (Caprini)
Genre : Goats ( capra )
Type : Wild goat ( Capra aegagrus )
Subspecies : Cretan wild goat
Scientific name
Capra aegagrus cretica
( Schinz , 1838)

The Cretan wild goat ( Capra aegagrus cretica ), also known as the Cretan chamois , agrimi or Kri-kri , is generally considered a subspecies of the wild goat . Molecular genetic studies suggest ancestry from early domestic goat breeds. However, their original characteristics in terms of morphology, color and behavior have been largely retained in comparison with related non-domesticated wild goat breeds in Asia.

description

The fur is light brown with a dark eel line on the neck and back, which becomes more and more pronounced with the age of the animals. The summer blanket is reddish brown, the winter blanket long-haired and gray. The weight is between 15 and 40 kg. The buck has two 80 cm long, curved back horns and a long goatee, the horns and beard of the goats are much shorter. The bucks can reach an age of twelve to eighteen years.

Occurrence

It is native to the Samaria Gorge in the Lefka Ori in western Crete . In order to preserve the characteristics of the subspecies cretensis and to prevent crossbreeding with feral domestic goats, smaller populations were released on the uninhabited islands of Dia , Agii Theodori and Agii Pandes off the north coast . Other animals were brought to Atalanti , Moni, Psili and Sapientza .

The taxonomic status of the related subspecies Capra aegagrus dorcas from the northern Sporades island of Gioura and Capra aegagrus pictus from the Cycladic island of Andimilos is controversial.

Habitat and way of life

Their habitat consists of karst rock regions with mountain forests of Calabrian pines ( Pinus brutia ), Cretan maple ( Acer sempervirens ), Kermes oak ( Quercus coccifera ), Mediterranean cypress ( Cupressus sempervirens ) and juniper ( Juniperus deltoides ). The Cretan wild goat eats at dusk or at night and avoids being close to humans. Their diet consists of leaves, buds, shoots, grasses and herbs.

Reproduction

The rut is between October and December and after a gestation period of 142 to 153 days, the fawns are born in April and May (one to two per litter). Only the goats take care of the fawns, which weigh about 2 kg at birth. The fawns are weaned after three to four and a half months. The bucks reach sexual maturity after twelve months , the goats after ten to eleven months. The female death rate is higher than the male goats.

Cretan wild goat and human

At the latest in the Neolithic Age with the settlement of the Aegean Islands, the Cretan wild goat came to Crete from Asia in its wild form or at an early stage of domestication . It is not, as originally assumed, a true subspecies of the wild goat, but rather the feral form of the very first domesticated goats that existed in the Levant and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean between 7,500 and 8,000 years ago.

During archaeological excavations, some wall paintings with Cretan wild goats have been discovered. Some academics believe that this animal was worshiped by the islanders during ancient times. There is a sarcophagus from the 11th century BC. BC depicting a hunting scene with Cretan wild goats and dogs.

In Crete, the goats are often called agrimi (αγρίμι, the indomitable ), while the goats are called Sanada . Few tourists or locals have ever seen one of these shy animals.

The Agrimi used to be widespread all over Crete, but in the first half of the 20th century it was so persecuted in large parts of the island that it only found refuge in the Samaria Gorge in the White Mountains. Their meat was in great demand and the islanders made bows from their horns. In 1928, selected animals were brought to the island of Theodorou , in 1951 to the island of Agii Pandes and in 1957 to the island of Dia to set up new herds there. By 1960, the Cretan wild goat was endangered by excessive hunting and its population had dropped below 200 animals. It was considered the only meat supplier for the mountain guerrilla during the German occupation in World War II . Their rarity status was one of the reasons that the Samaria Gorge was declared a national park in the 1960s and is now classified as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO . Today about 2000 animals live on Crete, but they are still poached for their tender meat. In addition, there is the impoverishment of the gene pool through hybridization with domestic goats, the scarcity of pasture grounds and the greater impairment caused by diseases. Mixed breeds of Agrimis and domestic goats are called Fouriarika by the islanders .

In the national Red List, Capra aegagrus cretica is classified as endangered (VU - Vulnerable ).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marco Masseti: Atlas of terrestrial mammals of the Ionian and Aegean islands . Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-025458-7 , p. 159–170 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ↑ a b Α. Λεγάκις, Π. Μαραγκού (A. Legakis, P. Marangou): Το Κόκκινο Βιβλίο των Απειλούμενων Ζώων της Ελλάδας (Red List of Endangered Animals of Greece) . Ed .: Ελληνική Ζωολογική Εταιρεία - Greek Zoological Society, Υπουργείο Περιβάλλοντος, Ενέργειας και Κλιγ.ΕΕτικής ΑΚλ.αΠς ΑΚΑλΑγής - Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Athens 2009, ISBN 978-960-85298-8-5 , θηλαστικά (mammals), p. 373-374 .
  3. ↑ Liora Kolska Horwitz, Gila Kahila Bar-Gal: The Origin and Genetic Status of Insular caprine in the Eastern Mediterranean: A Case Study of Free-Ranging Goats (Capra aegagrus cretica) on Crete . In: Human Evolution . tape 21 , 2006, p. 123-138 , doi : 10.1007 / s11598-006-9015-8 .
  4. ↑ Gila Kahila Bar-Gal, Patricia Smith, Eitan Tchernov, Charles Greenblatt, Pierre Ducos, Armelle Gardeisen, Liora Kolska Horwitz: Genetic evidence for the origin of the agrimi goat (Capra aegagrus cretica). In: Journal of Zoology . Volume 256, No. 3, 2002, pp. 369-377, DOI: 10.1017 / S0952836902000407 .

Web links

Commons : Capra aegagrus creticus  - album with pictures, videos and audio files