The Rocky Mountain Goat was first spotted in the Dry Canyon area east of Bend. Photo from ODFW.
In just a few months, a lone Rocky Mountain Goat has become one of the most popular celebrities in Central Oregon.
Often spotted along Hwy 20 east of Bend, the male goat was first seen last December. As far as anyone knows, he’s the only one of his kind in the area.
That’s enough for him to earn some special attention from Oregon Fish and Wildlife. Last week, ODFW captured and collared the goat so they can keep better tabs on him.
ODFW estimates there are about 800 rocky mountain goats in Oregon, mostly in Northeast Oregon. The largest population is in the Elkhorn Mountains.
So where ever this guy game from, he’s wandered far from home.
“This male is dispersing, and that is what Rocky Mountain goats do, looking for new habitat and for other goats,” says Steve George, ODFW Deschutes district wildlife biologist. “Goats tend to stay put in the winter, but we expect this one to continue moving once it gets warmer.”
He’s not the first. ODFW says other wandering goats have made it as far as The Dalles and the Deschutes River.
The goat was captured, collared and released on March 3. Photo from ODFW.
The department captured and put a radio-collar on him so they can keep track of his movements. It says he was in good condition and released back into the Dry Canyon area. DNA samples were taken which will allow ODFW to determine which herd he came from.
“ODFW staff saw the goat again yesterday,” says George, ” and it is doing fine and in the same general location where it was collared.”
It’s believed the rocky mountain goat was wiped out in Oregon more than a century ago by Native American hunters and European fur traders.
ODFW began a reintroduction program in the 1950s. Most of the goats were brought in from Washington and Alaska, but in recent years ODFW has been able to transplant goats from one area of the state to another.
[...] ODFW Gets Their Goat | Natural Oregon [...]
We did a fun article on Oregon’s wide-ranging goats in a recent issue of Northwest Sportsman magazine, and posted it here:
http://nwsportsmanmag.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/1968/