Humans To Decide Whether Mountain Goats Live Or Die

SEATTLE, WA - The lives of mountain goats living in the Olympic National Park are now literally in hands of humans. The National Park Service this week extended its comment period for options to remove the sometimes dangerous non-native mountain goats from the park.

The four options include: transporting some goats to the North Cascades National Park and then killing others; relocating all of them; killing all of them; or leaving them be. The public now has until Oct. 10 to comment on the options.

The mountain goats were brought to the Olympic Peninsula before the national park was established. The "exotic" species has thrived, and the goats live on virtually every peak in the Olympic Range. The National Park Service has long sought to relocate the goats because they eat native plants and erode mountain slopes.

But in 2010, a hiker was gored and killed by a goat. The goats crave salt, and have learned to approach humans to get it, which might lead to more deadly encounters.

You can read and comment on the National Park Service's environmental impact statement (EIS) on the goats here.

Image via National Park Service