These are official and local names of a subspecies of a domestic goat once distributed in the eastern Mediterranean and now preserved only on Crete and several other Greek islands, where special reserves were arranged for them, as well as in Macedonia (Greece), where they were specifically involved in the restoration of these goats.

For a long time it was believed that the agrimi is a kind of wild goat who has remained unchanged since ancient times, therefore his name comes from the Greek word άγριος (literally “wild”). It’s now established that it comes from the wild goats domesticated about VIII BC in the Levant and other regions of the eastern Mediterranean, who has again become wild. It’s believed that they were brought to Crete during the Minoan civilization (2600-1450 BC). The goat Amalthea, who suckled the infant-god Zeus, was of the same breed.

At one time the agrimi was even actively used as a symbol of Crete to attract tourists. Generally the agrimi is a timid one like any wild animal, but in Crete it has been protected for half a century by the state, so it happens that some brave individuals go out to people to profit by something delicious while showing their muzzles for photographers. By the 60-ies of the last century the agrimis were threatened with extinction: there were no more than 200 heads, since during the World War II they were the main source of meat for Cretan guerrillas at the time of German occupation (we have wrote about it). Today the population has reached 2000 heads, but the balance is still considered unstable: there is a decrease in the range of natural habitats of animals living in the wild under the threat of disease and hybridization as a result of natural crossing with domestic goats. They feed on leaves, buds, young shoots and grass.