Oct 24, 2022 06:02 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...s-ice-melt
EXCERPT: In one corner, there is the agile climber with steak knife-like horns [mountain goats]. In the other is America’s largest wild sheep. They are locked in significantly one-sided combat in the mountains of the US west, scientists have found, in a battle over resources uncovered by the region’s vanishing glaciers.
In study sites across a 1,500-mile span of the Rocky Mountains, scientists have documented mountain goats and bighorn sheep competing over mineral deposits among the rocks, at elevations of up to 14,000ft.
These contests, never previously outlined in detail, show that two of the US’s heftiest native mammals are involved in a struggle that may be influenced by the climate crisis, as the mountains’ snow and ice rapidly dwindles. Conflict between such species “may be reflective of climate degradation coupled with the changing nature of coveted resources”, the new study states.
Joel Berger, lead author of the research and senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society and Colorado State University, said he was “flabbergasted” to see the number of skirmishes between the two ungulate species, with the mountain goats appearing to have the upper hand, or hoof. Of the observed battles, the goats triumphed 98% of the time, clearly making them the superior mountain brawler.
“They are the badasses of the mountains,” said Berger. “They have these saber-like horns; they are bolder, more aggressive. The goats just have a very high win rate.”
The goats and the sheep usually avoid battle when near each other but when conflict does arise around clumps of minerals, the goats typically chase off the sheep in order to enjoy the nutrients in peace.
Bighorn sheep are roughly the same size as the mountain goats and sport long, curved horns that resemble a Princess Leia hairstyle. But the goats are the more feared combatant due to their assertiveness and razor-sharp horns – a mountain goat gored a grizzly bear to death in Canada last year, while in a separate, and extremely rare, incident a hiker was killed by a goat... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: In one corner, there is the agile climber with steak knife-like horns [mountain goats]. In the other is America’s largest wild sheep. They are locked in significantly one-sided combat in the mountains of the US west, scientists have found, in a battle over resources uncovered by the region’s vanishing glaciers.
In study sites across a 1,500-mile span of the Rocky Mountains, scientists have documented mountain goats and bighorn sheep competing over mineral deposits among the rocks, at elevations of up to 14,000ft.
These contests, never previously outlined in detail, show that two of the US’s heftiest native mammals are involved in a struggle that may be influenced by the climate crisis, as the mountains’ snow and ice rapidly dwindles. Conflict between such species “may be reflective of climate degradation coupled with the changing nature of coveted resources”, the new study states.
Joel Berger, lead author of the research and senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society and Colorado State University, said he was “flabbergasted” to see the number of skirmishes between the two ungulate species, with the mountain goats appearing to have the upper hand, or hoof. Of the observed battles, the goats triumphed 98% of the time, clearly making them the superior mountain brawler.
“They are the badasses of the mountains,” said Berger. “They have these saber-like horns; they are bolder, more aggressive. The goats just have a very high win rate.”
The goats and the sheep usually avoid battle when near each other but when conflict does arise around clumps of minerals, the goats typically chase off the sheep in order to enjoy the nutrients in peace.
Bighorn sheep are roughly the same size as the mountain goats and sport long, curved horns that resemble a Princess Leia hairstyle. But the goats are the more feared combatant due to their assertiveness and razor-sharp horns – a mountain goat gored a grizzly bear to death in Canada last year, while in a separate, and extremely rare, incident a hiker was killed by a goat... (MORE - missing details)