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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A goat’s pupils are rectangular.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Goat
- Scientific name
- Capra hircus
- Japanese name
- ヤギ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Capra
The goat is a domestic animal that people tamed from a wild ancestor.
It was the next animal people domesticated after the dog, making it a very old domestic animal.
It can get by on poor food, copes with dry conditions and can live on rugged ground, so it is kept all over the world.
Many breeds have been developed for milk, meat, hair and hides. In Japan, goats have long been kept mainly on the Nansei Islands.
How the Goat lives
Goats are active by day and spend much of the day grazing. They use their lips to select and grasp food. In pastures, they eat plants from the tops downward. They live in herds with a ranking among the members.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebSmithsonian National ZooBasic data
- Size
- Shoulder height: 40–100 cm
- Weight
- males 12.5–125 kg, females 10–100 kg
Where the Goat has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ヤギ
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — ヤギChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Capra hircusChecked: 2026-11-03
- Smithsonian National Zoo — GoatChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Goat, look for this
- Watch how a goat moves its jaws sideways as it chews.
- You may see a goat standing on its hind legs to reach tree branches and shrubs.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
Smithsonian National ZooEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Goat
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Bovidae
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