RKl'kl.X'Il.l) FROM rilK 



J-iintl) s^nniial L'rpoit of thr J-iru) Jlorh 'Z.-oolojirdl ^orirti'. 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 



By MADISON GRANT. 



TUl". wliiu- i>r Ivclvv Mountain goat shares with the musk-ox 

 the hiiiKir of l)cini;- tlie least known of the game animals of 

 Xortli Ameriea ami descriptions of it written even as recently 

 as ten years ago are valueless, as in many cases this animal is 

 confused with white mountain shec]) and even with deer. The 

 explanation of this lack of knowledge lies in the extremely re- 

 mote and inaccessible habitat of the .goat, which l)egins in the 

 northwestern I'nited States, among the highest peaks of the 

 Rocky Moup.tains and of the coast ranges and extends north, 

 through British Columl)ia. into Alaska. The material in most 

 natural histories, relating to this animal, is scant}- and leased 

 on ver\- inadequate information, since the oi)portunity to see 

 and hunt it has not been granted to many. In captivity, we 

 have had. on the Atlantic coast, only eight immature specimens, 

 two in Boston in i8(;(;. two in Philadelphia in 1893, '^'''^1 the 

 four now ( 1905) living in the New \'ork Zoological P*ark. C^ne 

 well gfrown male is liviu"' at this time in the London Zoological 

 Garden. 



As a result of this scarcity of direct knowledge, manv mvths 

 have gathered around this mouiUain dweller, leading, as usual 

 in our North American game animals, to an aljundance of inap- 

 ])ropriate names. The name "goat" is objectionable, but will 

 have to stand until some better term can be found. The Stoney 

 Indians in Alberta use the name "Wajtutehk." and in Chinook, 

 the tmiversal jargon of the Northwest, the goat is called Snow 

 Alawitch (white deer). .Neither of these terms are likely to be- 

 come common. It is not a goat, nor even closelv related to them, 

 but is the sole representative on this coutinent. of a \ery aberrant 

 grotip of so-called mountain anieli>pe>, known to science as the 

 Riipicdfriiuc. a Subfamil\ of the lunidcc. 



1 iiic .MorxiAix .\xti:lopes. 



The h'lif^icdf^riiKC comprise five widelv scattered genera, ex- 

 tending from the Pyrenees of Spain, to the l\(Kky Mountains of 

 the western I'nited States, as enumerated below. 



