When you first get a glimpse of the Alpine Ibex in this incredible footage, you’ll think that your mind is playing tricks on you.
Alpine Ibex is a species of wild goat that lives in the European Alps and prefers living on steep mountainsides. This particular group of goats, however, prefer a more peculiar area to climb and forage for nutrients.
The Cingino Dam located in the Italian Alps is the preferred spot for the Alpine Ibex to climb and get a lick of the nutrient-dense mineral salt. There’s just one problem, the face of the dam is a vertical 160-ft wall.
With their split hooves and rubber-like soles, the goats are able to scale the vertical dam wall with total ease.
From afar, it appears that the Ibex are floating or “stuck” against the 160-ft concrete wall. It’s hard to believe that they can climb up this vertical face without a care in the world. These types of goats are used to climbing extremely steep mountain cliffs at altitudes up to 15,000 feet.
The Alpine Ibex easily climb up and down the face of this wall, but it isn’t just for fun or to pass the time. They actually have a very specific purpose for coming to the Cingino Dam, and it’s mostly based on their vegetarian diet.
Because they don’t get enough minerals in their plant-based diets, the Alpine Ibex climb the dam in search of stones encrusted in mineral-rich salt.
Some scientists also believe that animals like to lick and ingest salt because it helps neutralize anything toxic they may have eaten.
To make things a bit easier for the wild goats, the Italian damn was built with older engineering which means the rough masonry provides gaps that are perfect spots for their hooves to grip. Jeff Opperman, senior advisor for sustainable hydropower at the U.S.-based nonprofit the Nature Conservancy says that there are even goats in the U.S. that have been known to climb dams.
Remembering a photo of a mountain goat in Montana, he recalls, “He is wedged up this sheer vertical cliff face, almost doing a yoga pose with four hooves splayed out there,” he said. “It’s the same concept [with the Italian goats]—these animals can overcome what looks like impossible topography to get what they want.”
This incredible National Geographic footage has been described as “mind-boggling,” and when you watch it, you’ll understand why.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
