Goats are among the earliest domesticated animals. Domesticated goats were found at archaeological sites in western Asia, which dates between 6000 and 7000 B.C.

The goat's ancestry is the Bezoar goat, which is distributed from the mountains of Asia Minor across the Middle East to Sind.

Goats easily revert to feral condition given a chance. It is the only domestic species which will return to a wild state as quickly as the domestic cat.