The Kri-Kri Goat

Domestic goat on the side of the road in Crete

For my homework I had to write about an animal in Greece and I chose the Kri-Kri goat. The Kri-Kri goat lives in Crete mainly in the Samaria Gorge. We were going to hike on the Gorge but it was closed because of flooding. The Kri-Kri didn't always live in Crete it was imported to Crete during the Minoan civilization which was thousands of years ago. The Kri-Kri goat has two horns that go back from the head and brownish fur with a darker line around its neck.


During WWII the resistance fighters hid in the mountains and Kri Kri goat was the only meat so they ate lots of it and then the population dropped to below 200. Now there are around 2,000.


Facts about Kri-Kri goats:

•  Kri-Kri goats are close to twice the size of a normal goat

•  Kri-Kri only live in Crete nowhere else

•  They can climb sheer cliffs

We have not seen any Kri-Kri but we have seen lots of domestic goats. We have been to a place where people first brought Kri-Kri to Crete it was the palace of Phaestros. Domestic goats are important in Greece and Kri-Kri are probably some of the earliest goats brought to Greece.

Domestic goat in the middle of the road

My brother and I petting cats at the Palace of Phaestros

Kri-Kri on side of mountain (from Google images)

Goat next to a guard rail

Kri-Kri in ancient art.
At the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.