Rare Breed GoatsGoats Capra hircus

When female goats give birth to their young, called kids, the process is called “kidding.”

Goats are agile climbers.  The bottoms of their feet are very soft, which gives them the ability to climb on rocks - or the goat bridges at the Zoo - with a sure footing.

All goats are ruminants, meaning they have a multi-chambered stomach.  Cud is food that is brought back up into the mouth from the stomach. While resting, goats bring food back up from a stomach chamber and chew it.  They then swallow their food again for more thorough digestion.

Animal Class

Mammal

Diet

Herbivore

Status in Wild

Stable

AlpacaVicugna pacos

Alpacas produce one of the finest and most luxurious natural fibers.  It is soft like cashmere and warmer, lighter and stronger than wool.  With 22 basic colors, it comes in more colors than any other fiber produced by an animal.  The Zoo’s alpaca is sheared every other year in the spring.  Her shorter summer ‘do helps keep her cool in the summer.  

Llama or Alpaca?
The physical differences between llamas and alpacas are the most obvious. One of the easiest differences to spot is the ears. Llamas have long, banana-shaped ears, while alpacas have shorter, spear-shaped ears.  Another difference is their size.  Most alpacas weigh between 100 and 175 pounds when fully grown. Llamas, on the other hand, weigh between 200 to 350 pounds with some as heavy as 400 pounds.

Animal Class

Mammal

Diet

Herbivore

Status in Wild

Stable

Jacob SheepOvis aries

The most distinguishing feature of Jacob Sheep is their impressive horns. They generally have one or two pairs of horns, but some Jacob Sheep have six horns! The ram’s horns can reach 30 inches or more, while ewe’s horns are shorter and more delicate.

Jacob Sheep wool is light, easy to spin and contains little lanolin (a waterproofing substance). Approximately 5-10 pounds of wool is collected of each animal each year at the Zoo. The annual trim helps keep them cool in the summer.

Animal Class

Mammal

Diet

Herbivore

Status in Wild

Stable

Belted Galloway and Dexter CowBos taurus

Due to their distinctive white belt around their middle, giving them the appearance of the black-and-white sandwich cookie, Belted Galloway cattle are often called the “Cookie Cow” or “Belties”. 

Belted Galloways are medium in size, with cows weighing around 1,000 pounds and bulls weighing about 1,600 pounds.

Dexter Cattle are among the smallest breeds of cattle in the world, standing only 40 inches tall and weighing 700 – 900 pounds.

Animal Class

Mammal

Diet

Herbivore

Status in Wild

Stable