Lethal force used to remove mountain goats from Olympic National Park

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More mountain goats have been removed from Olympic National Park, but this time, lethal methods used to remove the goats from the federal parklands.

It was estimated in 2018 that 725 mountain goats called the Olympic Peninsula home.

So far, 412 of the non-native goats have been removed from Olympic National Park, and 325 of those were safely relocated to the Cascades — where native goat populations are dwindling — and 31 were removed lethally during the recent culls.

The volunteer squads were able to remove 19 goats from the Chimney Peak and Mount Anderson areas. Six goats were killed in the southeastern region of the park, four were removed from Mount Olympus and two from Bailey Range.

An additional 56 goats either died during transportation, were euthanized, sent to zoos or were otherwise unable to survive transit to the Cascades.

According to the National Park Service, the volunteers negotiated rugged terrain and grueling conditions in their pursuit of the goats.

Participating in the culling were 20 groups of volunteers, and they endured the normally challenging conditions associated with accessing mountain goats in the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness of Olympic National Park, but the teams also faced dense smoke from forest fires, wasps, and weather — which included heavy rain, strong winds, snow, sleet, lightning, and persistent fog and low clouds.

The three rounds of lethal removals were held Sept. 9 through Sept 19; Sept. 22 through Oct. 2; and Oct. 5 through Oct. 16.

Lethal removal efforts will switch to aerial operations in 2021, with two-week periods scheduled for July and early September.