Mountain goats from Olympics find homes in regional zoos
As Mountain Goats are Moved From Olympics, Zoos Provide Homes for Goat Kids Without Known Mothers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 14, 2018
PORT ANGELES – As state and federal agencies move non-native mountain goats from Olympic National Park to the northern Cascade Mountains, Northwest Trek is partnering with Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo to provide permanent homes to goat kids without known mothers.
“Our plan is to translocate nanny-kid pairs when possible,” said Rich Harris, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife statewide mountain goat manager. “But when young goats cannot be paired up with their mothers, experience from other mountain goat translocation projects is that their survival rates are low.”
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park veterinarian Dr. Allison Case joined a team of state and federal veterinarians at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park this week to examine the mountain goats, conduct physical exams and provide preventative and supportive care before their translocation.
Case and Northwest Trek veterinary technician Sara Dunleavy set up a temporary clinic to focus on the goat kids. Working swiftly, they examined each one, recorded its weight, determined its gender, placed a microchip and ear tag, collected blood, took cultures and nasal swabs to check for disease, and administered vaccines and antibiotics.
“Mountain goats translocated at a young age are more likely to survive in human care than in the wild,” Case said. “We’re delighted to provide goat kids with great homes at Northwest Trek, Woodland Park Zoo and other zoos.” The young goats destined for Northwest Trek will wander at will through the meadows and forests of the wildlife park’s 435-acre Free-Roaming Area.
Oregon Zoo staff are coordinating placement at zoos for additional goat kids. Animal-care teams from Northwest Trek, Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo are teaming up on their transport.
“We’re pleased to participate in this regional effort in cooperation with our colleagues in Washington and state and federal agencies,” said Amy Cutting, animal curator at Oregon Zoo. “We are all coming together in the name of conservation.”
State and federal officials were pleased when regional zoos stepped up to help, offering homes for young goats and sharing their animal-care expertise, Harris said. “We’ve partnered with Northwest Trek, Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo on many conservation projects, from Oregon spotted frog and Western pond turtle reintroduction to bat and fisher monitoring, so it was a natural to team up again.”
“As part of our commitment to saving wildlife, including species recovery in the Pacific Northwest, we are dedicated to ensuring exemplary animal welfare and to providing a home for young goats to ensure their chances of survivability,” said Dr. Jennifer Pramuk, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo.
By late Thursday, four male kids without identifiable mothers had been taken to Northwest Trek. Zoo officials have not determined where these particular goat kids will live long-term. Northwest Trek can provide a permanent home for up to five goat kids; Woodland Park Zoo can care for up to two.
This effort to translocate mountain goats from the Olympic Peninsula is a partnership between the National Park Service (NPS), the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to re-establish and assist in connecting depleted populations of mountain goats in the Washington Cascades.
Area tribes lending support to the translocation plan in the Cascades include the Lummi, Muckleshoot, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, Suquamish, Swinomish, Tulalip, and Upper Skagit.
This month’s two-week effort to move mountain goats to native habitat in the northern Cascades is the first translocation operation. Additional efforts are planned next year. Mountain goats were introduced to the Olympics in the 1920s. For more information about mountain goats in Washington, go to wdfw.wa.gov/living/mountain_goats.
Read the agency release on the National Park Service website.
Media Contacts
Whitney DalBalcon, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park; 253-278-6343 or 253-404-3637; whitney.dalbalcon@pdza.org or Kris Sherman, 253-226-6718; kris.sherman@pdza.org
Gigi Allianic, Woodland Park Zoo, 206-548-2550; gigi.allianic@zoo.org
Hova Najarian, Oregon Zoo, 503-220-5714; hova.najarian@oregonzoo.org