Assistant to witches and relative of the gods - Gredos mountain goat (8 photos + 1 video)

This species of wild goat appears in witchcraft legends and frolics among the park’s mesmerizingly complex rocks.





Far from Madrid, among the dangerous rocky landscape of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, you can see the endangered species of wild goats, which scale mountains and cliffs with almost supernatural agility and grace.



La Pedriza

These animals belong to the wild goat species known as the Western Iberian ibex and form a subspecies known as the Gredos ibex (Capra pyrenaica victoriae). It is one of two extant subspecies found in Spain. Two other subspecies of this animal were once widespread throughout Spain and Portugal, but in the 19th century they were hunted until, alas, the animals completely disappeared.





The Gredos ibex narrowly escaped extinction due to rampant hunting thanks to the efforts of conservationists in the 20th century. The population discovered on the La Pedriza Ridge is part of a reintroduction program aimed at repopulating areas where the species has become locally extinct.



Zoologists believe that this species is the wild ancestor of the domestic goat. And that domestication of this animal first occurred during Neolithic times somewhere in the Zagros Mountains of Turkey, Iraq and Iran about 10,000 years ago. However, La Pedriza goats are not domesticated.



Cernunnos - Celtic god of the forest, wild animals and abundance

Despite their wildness, they occupy an important place in human history. The species has long been closely associated with Spanish folklore. Images of this animal, along with bison and mammoths, are found in Paleolithic rock paintings in the northern region of Cantabria and the Basque Country.



Ancient Greek god Pan - patron of nature

Archaeologists have found mountain goat bones during excavations of cave settlements of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, suggesting that the animal was important and valuable to the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe for its meat and hide. In the Late Bronze Age, in the Celtiberian culture of ancient Spain, the goat was associated with the Celtic horned god Cernunnos.



Francisco Goya. Coven

Thanks to the cultural influence of Ancient Greece and later Roman colonization and settlement of the Iberian Peninsula, these wild goats became associated with mythical creatures such as fauns and satyrs, as well as the pagan gods Pan, Mari and Dionysus. But the spread of Christianity in southern Europe led to goats becoming associated with darker themes such as the devil and witchcraft.



Goya. "The Sabbath of Witches in the Basque Country"

Witches' sabbaths, known as Akelarre in Basque and Aquelarre in Castilian, were typically held in the mountains and hills, away from settlements. And it was understood that such rituals were led by a male mountain goat, who was called Akerra. Several paintings by the artist Francisco Goya, dedicated to the role of Aquerra in witchcraft, can be seen in art galleries in Madrid.