Nature
PUBLISHED
Fans of horror films might recall a particularly sinister goat in the 2015 movie The Witch who was partial to getting on its hind legs and hopping around. It seems the movie star’s bipedal antics served as inspiration for a goat in India, who chose October of all months to take a walk through town on two legs. Spooky.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Goats are a member of the Bovidae family (sounding much like a group from out of town who have recently taken up residence in a gothic mansion) and as such are hoofed mammals that usually walk on all fours. The males often have horns that come into play when the goats get angry and start jumping on their hind legs so they can butt horns with other males. The two-legged approach is usually only reserved for when passions are running high, be it fighting or mating, so to see a goat casually strutting its stuff like a human being is quite surprising.
The 24-second clip shared on Twitter shows a goat walk upright for somewhere in the region of 10 meters (33 feet), moving with an impressive air of purpose, in front of a crowd of stunned locals in Telwara, Bihar. It’s since been reported by the New York Post that this isn’t the first time the bipedal Billy has caused such a scene, and his balancing act has even attracted tourists from neighboring areas to witness the bizarre behavior first-hand.
The footage of this aspiring Pan has attracted a lot of attention online, with some questioning what it is the goat appears to be holding as it struts its stuff down the street.
In 2019, a video emerged on YouTube that showed a goat who, born with defects in both front legs, learned to walk on its hind legs to compensate for those that didn’t work. Indeed, it seems goats are pretty good at overcoming obstacles, as a study back in 2014 found goats excelled at learning and remembering a new cognitive task. Round up your Boston Dynamic robodogs, people. The goat overlords are coming.
