By Guest Blogger Beth Glosten, WNPF Board of Directors
Earth Day is an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection—and there are few better examples of that principle in action than the mountain goat translocation project. In our April 22, 2020 Virtual Field Trip, Olympic National Park wildlife biologist Patti Happe took us on a journey through the history and process of managing the park’s mountain goat population.
Mountain goats, not native to Olympic National Park, were introduced to the park area by sportsmen. The goats are, however, native to other areas of the Pacific Northwest, and they thrive in the Cascade Mountains. Because Olympic National Park is a mountain island, separated from other goat-friendly mountainous areas by water, the goats brought to Olympic National Park stayed in Olympic National Park.
While catching a glimpse of a mountain goat on a trip to the park might inspire shock and awe, having these mountain goats in the park does bring some challenges. First, their presence causes significant harm to the park’s sensitive alpine vegetation. Second, since the goats require salt, and Olympic National Park doesn’t provide a natural source of salt (unlike the Cascades), the goats are drawn to humans, specifically the salt in our urine. Mountain goats become habituated to us humans, which increases the risk of dangerous encounters.
Concerns about the potentially dangerous interactions between mountain goats and human visitors prompted the park to begin researching the goat population and exploring management options.
In 1983, herd estimates were conducted by helicopter, and the goat population was found to be over 1,000. A program of translocation was instituted which, in addition to hunting outside the park, either moved or removed about 500 goats off the Olympic peninsula. This program did not last long, and translocation stopped in 1989 as it was deemed too dangerous for both the goats and for the people capturing the goats.
Follow-up goat population studies from 1990 to 2004 revealed the goat population to be around 300. However, while the reduced population was welcome news, the problem wasn’t solved. After the 2004 survey, goats started showing up where they hadn’t been seen before, and they showed up habituated to people, which led to some worrisome interactions. As well, damage to vegetation and soil was noted.
The National Park Service joined with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the National Forest Service (NFS) to seek funding for a goat management plan with two goals:
The resulting plan, approved in 2018, was to use a combination of capture and translocation, followed by lethal removal as needed.
Wildlife capture specialists were brought in to locate and move the goats by helicopter. This involved immobilizing each goat with a medication dart or a net, and then airlifting the goat to a staging area. Every effort was made to preserve the goat’s health and well-being during handling and the roughly 30-minute transport; effects of any medication was reversed to prevent adverse effects on the goat’s breathing, and the goats were blindfolded to decrease their stress. In the staging area, expert wildlife vets examined and tagged each goat with a radio collar. The goat was then moved to a crate and transported in a temperature-controlled truck to their new home. Video footage in this presentation shows some goats being released and scampering off into their new wilderness.
Olympic National Park, with WSFW and NFS, removed goats from the Olympic Peninsula for three years, from 2018-2020. In total, 325 goats* were released into the North Cascades.
The radio collars allowed for follow up: 90% of the goats survived the first 50 days (about what is expected). In addition, sixteen kids (young goats) were relocated from Olympic National Park to area zoos. Tracking the translocated goats reveals the great news that nannies are breeding with goats in the North Cascades, thus improving genetic diversity in the population.
Sadly, the project did result in some casualties—to be expected in such an effort. Fourteen goats died: six during the process of being translocated (about what is expected) and eight by lethal removal. Still, overall, this project is considered an impressive success for goats and humans alike.
This project is an example of cooperation between a national park and other organizations. Washington’s National Park Fund supports this type of project that involves services outside the park boundaries (usual government funding does not), and the goat translocation project is an example of systematic problem solving typical of our national parks. In monitoring the health of Olympic National Park itself, it was detected that goats were a problem, and rallying resources allowed for a win/win outcome: fewer goats in Olympic National Park and more goats in the North Cascades.
Want to learn more? Watch this short video clip about the project by Olympic National Park, view the full Virtual Field Trip with Patti Happe, below, or check out our other Virtual Field Trips — you can learn about marmots, park rangers, and more!
*this is an updated number since the April presentation