And you thought going to the grocery store after work was a hassle. These brave little climbers are Alpine ibex showing off their exceptional wall-scaling skills on the 160-foot-tall Cingino Dam in Italy. They risk life and hoof to get to the dam’s salt-encrusted stones which help supplement the goats’ low-salt grazing diet. Some of these photos have been circulating in chain emails which claim that the goats pictured are climbing the Buffalo Bill dam in Wyoming. However, while the pictures are genuine, this description is entirely inaccurate.
The ibex in the pictures are wild mountain goats that live in very steep, rocky environments. To them, climbing nearly-vertical walls of rock is an everyday activity. They have wall-scaling skills to rival Spider-man and bravery to match any human rock climber.
To some people, these pictures are proof that nature will always find a way to thrive regardless of human intervention. To others, these images speak to the utter devastation of worldwide environments by man-made structures and encroaching civilization. No matter which side of the debate you are on, it is clear that these goats are making the best of their situation and using the available resources to get what they need in their diets.
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