Mountain goat
Fluffy. Adorable. And very energetic. Our mountain goats live in the Free-Roaming Area.
Our mountain goats arrived in fall 2018. Part of a larger group translocated from Washington’s Olympic Mountains (where they are non-native and destructive) to the Cascades (where their populations are depleted), the kids couldn’t be paired with a known mother, so found their new home at Northwest Trek. The translocation was a partnership of the National Park Service, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and the USDA Forest Service, with support from area tribes. Read the full story here.
After weeks of examination and care by our veterinary staff, goats Bailey, Fairchild, Klahhane, Rocky and Elwha settled in well to their new home, roaming our meadows, forests and hillsides.
Rocky then found a home at another accredited zoo, and Ellinor arrived from the 2019 relocation.
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Did you know?
Hooves and horns.
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With padded hooves, white hair and black horns and nose, mountain goats are around 5-6 feet long and 3 feet high as adults. |
They're herbivores, eating grass, leafy browse and mineral and salt deposits. |
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Billies, nannies
and babies
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Nannies (females) are aggressive, wielding their horns to guard their kids and dominate males - except during rut (mating). |
Billies (males) crawl on their bellies and squeak like kids to try and woo a nanny. After mating, he leaves (or is chased away!) |