Transplanted Mountain Goats Land in South Dakota

LEADVILLE, Colo.,--A snowy white species, introduced to the Black Hills of South Dakota 82 years ago, is getting a shot in the arm this fall as 14 mountain goats from Colorado were recently captured and transported to the Rushmore State.

“This is an important supplement to our existing population,” said John Kanta, big game biologist for the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department.

“For the past 15 years, we have seen a steady decline in the mountain goat population. There are probably several factors for this loss. High predation, loss of habitat, and a population of goats that came from only six original Alberta transplants all probably combine to cause the decrease. We hope to give our existing goats a ‘shot in the arm’ and increase our reproduction and population,” said Kanta.

While the capture of the goats--which used a helicopter company from Alaska, a pilot from Hawaii, and a net gunner/wrangler originally from New Zealand--isn’t unheard of, it is fairly uncommon.

The goats were captured on and around the Mount Elbert and Mount Massive areas in Colorado, near Leadville. These peaks are two of Colorado’s highest, more than 14,000 feet tall, and that made the capture even more difficult.

“These goats are in pretty rough places,” said Quicksilver Air Inc. owner Richard Swisher. “It isn’t easy to operate a helicopter at 13,000 feet, much less fly close enough to the ground to get a net or a tranquilizer dart into a mountain goat.”

The captured goats are put into sturdy wooden boxes for the nine-hour ride back to their new home in the Black Hills.

“They really do travel quite well,” said Kanta. “A block of ice is put in the box to keep the animals cool for the trip, but it seems as long as they are moving, they are fairly calm and content.”

The goats were equipped with radio collars, sheathed in a colorful sleeve. The combination of the two will allow GFP biologists to track the animals’ movements. The goats are also given a series of shots, have blood drawn for a series of tests and most had lengths of garden hose on their horns for safety while handling and transporting.

The goats have been released in four areas of the Black Hills. Mountain goats prefer open, rugged terrain including cliffs, rock faces, ledges and talus slopes.

“We have plenty of habitat for mountain goats,” said Kanta. “With the work the Forest Service has done in the past 20 years improving the areas we have, including clear-cutting and thinning of forests, and their planned improvement projects in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, we are very optimistic that the existing population and new supplement of goats will do quite well.”

--GFP--