lly in summer. Females, on the other hand, tend to stay in groups along with kids and immature animals. This behavior is particularly evident during mid-summer when large nursery bands form.
Usually a single kid is born in mid-late May after a gestation period of approximately 180 days. Twinning occurs rarely. Nannies seek out rugged, isolated sites prior to giving birth but soon join other nannies with newborn kids to form nursery groups. Kids remain with their mothers until the next breeding season and often for some years beyond. Interestingly, mountain goats will not give birth until they are 4 years of age; this is quite old compared to female moose, black-tailed deer, and caribou. Mountain goats may live up to 18 years, but most live less than 12.
Mountain goats are both grazing and browsing animals depending on the particular habitat and season of the year. They normally summer in high alpine meadows where they graze on sedges, forbs, and low-growing shrubs. As winter advances, feeding habits generally shift to browsing. Blueberry, hemlock, and lichen can be important winter diet items, but feeding habits in winter center on availability.
Range and Habitat
Mountain goats occupy remote habitat and are therefore the least studied large mammal in North America. The mountain goat’s range is restricted to the steep and broken mountain ranges of northwestern North America, from the northern Cascade and Rocky mountains to Southcentral Alaska. In Alaska, mountain goats occur throughout the southeast Panhandle with their range continuing north and west along the coastal mountains to Cook Inlet. In Southcentral Alaska they are generally confined to the Chugach and Wrangell mountains, although small numbers of goats have been documented in the Talkeetna Mountains. Mountain goats have also been introduced to non-native range on Kodiak and Baranof Islands where populations have expanded, on Chichagof Island where the transplant apparently failed, and most recently on Revillagigedo Island where goats are now firmly established. Mountain goats on Baranof Island are an interesting case study because recent genetic data indicate that mountain goats may have occurred on the island since the last ice age in a "cryptic refugia" and the 1923 transplant was an augmentation to the existing population rather than a true introduction.
Goats in coastal areas exhibit altitudinal migrations from alpine summer ranges to winter ranges at or below tree line, typically in old-growth forest habitats. In more interior areas, mountain goats will winter on windswept ridges as long as forage areas remain uncovered by snow.
Status, Trends, and Threats
Mountain goat populations are highly sensitive to severe winter conditions and human harvest, particularly when harvest rates of female mountain goats are high. In addition, mountain goat populations are often small and geographically isolated. As a result, mountain goat population trends throughout Alaska vary considerably from place to place and from year to year.
Overall, there are estimated to be 24,000–33,500 mountain goats in Alaska. A majority occur in southeast Alaska (13,500–20,000) though the Cordova area (3800–4400), Kenai Peninsula (3300–4750) and Kodiak Island (1700–2000) also considerable numbers of mountain goats. Peripheral areas such as the Wrangell Mountains (700) and northern Chugach mountains (Anchorage area = 600–700, Knik Glacier = 150–160, NE Chugach = 200) have smaller populations. The Talkeetna Mountains has a very small, isolated populations of 30–40 animals.
Over the 10-yr period between 2000-2009 an average of 485 mountain goats were per year. The highest harvest occurred in southeast Alaska (162) and Kodiak island (129). A substantial amount of annual harvest also occurs on the Kenai peninsula (78) and the Cordova/PWS area (64). Other areas such as the Gulf Coast (20) and northern Chugach mountains (38) have relatively low harvest, due to small populations or geographic isolation.
Winter snowfall is one of the most important factors influencing mountain goat (and all ungulate