Comportamento de caprinos

História natural e ambiente de caprinos

Domestic goats (Capra hircus) are the domesticated counterparts of wild goats (Capra aegagrus) from southwestern Asia and eastern Europe.

Goats are adapted to steep, mountainous environments. Wild goats are observed living at high elevations in summer and lower elevations in winter. Some species of wild goats can also be observed on steep rock faces. Feral goats prefer rocky terrain, elevated rock faces, and steep cliffs.

Feral goats have also been observed using caves to rest at night, during rain, and at temperatures > 22°C (approximately 72°F). The flexibility in environment selection demonstrates that goats have different environmental preferences depending on the conditions.

Goats were domesticated around 10,000 years ago in the Middle East, making them one of the first animals to be domesticated. Meat, milk, and wool are the most common uses for goats in agricultural production.

Goats are ruminants classified as both browsers and grazers, meaning that they feed on leaves, shoots, bark, and fruits of high-growing woody plants, such as shrubs, grasses, and other low-lying vegetation.

In addition to having dietary flexibility, goats adopt varied postures when foraging. For instance, they are commonly observed foraging from plants at eye level and at elevated positions (above their heads) in bipedal stances (ie, standing on their rear legs).

Estrutura social de caprinos

There are three common types of social groups in goats: female-only, male-only, and mixed-sex groups. Sexual segregation of goat social groups changes throughout the year, depending on feeding requirements and activity patterns.

The natural social organization of goats is a fission-fusion society, in which social groups merge and split as goats move throughout their environment. Group composition is thus dynamic over time, changing approximately once every hour as a result of goats moving around to graze and coming into proximity of multiple individuals within the herd.

In feral goat populations, group sizes have been observed to range from 1 to 100 individuals.

Social dominance is related to horn size in wild and feral goats. Males with larger horns are socially more dominant over females and have more access to females than males with smaller horns have, particularly during breeding season. Agonistic behaviors (including head butting, displacing, chasing, and biting) and affiliative behaviors (such as sniffing, scratching, and mock fighting, or play) maintain the social dominance structure.

Comportamento sexual e materno de caprinos

Goats are seasonal, polyestrous breeders; peak breeding occurs when days shorten. Animals in subtropical environments can have extended breeding periods because day length and temperature are more consistent. Estrous behaviors include bleating, tail flagging, and mounting other does; these behaviors are more pronounced in the presence of an intact male.

Does generally separate themselves from their social group and seek areas with overhead cover, vertical walls, and low wind velocities to give birth. Kids (juvenile goats) are precocial and attempt to stand within 1 hour after birth and suckle within 2 hours after birth.

Does and their kids stay in close physical contact for the first day after birth and remain isolated from the social group. Then, for approximately a week after birth, kids remain isolated, and does visit the kids for short bouts of time to nurse. Does form exclusive bonds with their kids and will not nurse unrelated kids.

After the hiding phase ends, kids suckle approximately twice per hour. The frequency of suckling decreases as kids age, and weaning occurs between 3 and 6 months of age in wild and feral goats. Preweaned kids form peer groups (crèches) by 2 weeks old, in which they preferentially spend their time with related and unrelated kids of similar ages.

Preweaned kids also engage in multiple forms of play, including locomotor play (eg, running and jumping), social play (eg, head pressing, running and jumping with peers, rearing), and object play (eg, interacting with flooring substrates or enrichment objects).