Teton goats must die to protect bighorns POSTED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016 4:30 AM Jackson Hole News and Guide

On a hike behind Grand Targhee last summer I witnessed something spectacular: A group of mountain goats had perched themselves on one of the cliffs where the resort’s eastern boundary backs up against the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.

It was a scene right out of National Geographic, a true wildlife thriller. We watched for several minutes as the adults encouraged the kids to negotiate the seemingly sheer rock wall. The downy youngsters would take a few steps forward, only to scurry back to the safety of the adults. The goats were simultaneously a reminder of the majesty of wild animals in wild places and of the universal nature of parents as both a goad and a refuge for their offspring.

Idaho Fish and Game introduced mountain goats to the Snake River Range in the 1960s and ’70s to create hunting opportunities. (A primitive species of mountain goat roamed Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem before the last ice age, but there’s no evidence of a native population of modern goats.) Similar goat transplants occurred throughout the GYE. Since then the ecosystem’s mountain goat population has grown to more than 2,000 animals and has established itself in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

Wildlife biologists suspect mountain goats first established a breeding population in the Teton Range around 2008. In the eight years since goats have made further inroads into high elevation habitat in the Tetons, roughly the same habitat favored by the range’s bighorns. Sightings have occurred in Grand Teton National Park north of Jenny Lake, and hikers have fled from ornery goats on park trails. (In case you’re wondering, mountain goats do sometimes attack people. In 2010 a mountain goat killed a 63- year-old hiker in Olympic National Park.)

They’ve also created some memorable wildlife watching opportunities, my own included. But a hard truth comes with this new addition to our mountain peaks: Mountain goats are a non-native species in the Tetons, and their continued expansion poses a threat to native plants and wildlife, especially the range’s bighorn sheep herd.

In addition to goats competing for bighorn habitat, biologists worry they could transmit domestic sheep diseases to wild sheep. The Teton Range Bighorn Sheep Herd could be particularly vulnerable to these threats because it is isolated from other bighorn populations and it is a small population living under unusually harsh conditions: mountain peaks with little food and lots of snow. It wouldn’t take much to wipe out the herd.

It’s time for wildlife managers to take swift action to remove mountain goats from the Teton Range. This is a tough decision. Mountain goats are undeniably charismatic. It’s hard for wildlife watchers to contemplate eradicating an animal with so much to offer. But the threats that mountain goats pose to the Teton bighorn sheep are too great to ignore.

Both Grand Teton National Park and Wyoming Game and Fish officials have considered several plans to eliminate or reduce the Teton Range mountain goat population.

Relocation is one option, but the equipment and personnel required to capture each individual goat would likely be cost prohibitive. A sterilization effort might require similar effort and cost, plus the short-term risk of disease transmission remains as long as the current population of goats survives.

A concerted effort to kill every last mountain goat in the Teton range is probably the fastest, most efficient, most cost-effective way to keep the bighorn population safe.

Wyoming Game and Fish could create a hunting season in the Tetons with the goal of eliminating the species up to the park boundary. Inside the park, rangers could shoot on sight.

Animal rights activists will likely object to a lethal campaign against mountain goats in the Tetons. I would respectfully submit that, in this case, eradicating mountain goats to protect bighorn sheep is an act of kindness. Subjecting bighorns to a slow death from domestic sheep diseases brings its own brand of suffering.

Researchers estimate that the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has enough mountain goat habitat to support between 5,300 and 8,900 animals. In other words the population could increase fourfold in the region. Each year the goat population grows larger, the chance of disease transmission to bighorn sheep increases. It’s time to make the hard decision.

Cory Hatch is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in U.S. News & World Report, MSNBC online and Jackson Hole Magazine. He also is a science writer for Idaho National Laboratory. Columns expressly represent the views of the author.