Non-native mountain goats will be removed from Grand Teton National Park to protect bighorn sheep/NPS

Non-native mountain goats will be moved from Grand Teton National Park as quickly as possible to protect a native population of bighorn sheep and natural resources in the park.

Based on analysis in the environmental assessment and public comments, the decision allows the National Park Service to rapidly remove non-native mountain goats from the park by lethal and non-lethal (live capture and translocation) methods. The decision also includes modifications from the preferred alternative to include the use of qualified volunteers to assist in ground-based lethal removal activities, and allow for the donation and distribution of mountain goat meat that results from lethal removal activities.

The National Park Service will develop a program to integrate qualified volunteers with its management program. 

The Teton Range is home to about 100 native bighorn sheep likely descended from a population that was introduced from outside the park. This herd is one of the smaller and most isolated in Wyoming, and has never been extirpated or augmented. The Teton Range herd of native bighorn sheep is of high conservation value to the park, adjacent land and wildlife managers, and visitors.

The National Park Service has a responsibility to maintain the ecological role of and reduce the potential for local extinction of native bighorn sheep. Mountain goats are not native to Grand Teton National Park. Mountain goats threaten the native Teton Range bighorn sheep herd through increased risk of pathogen transmission and potential for competition, according to park staff.

Without swift and active management, the mountain goat population is expected to continue to grow and expand its distribution within the park. The mountain goat population is currently at a size where complete removal is achievable in a short time, however, the growth rate of this population suggest that complete removal in the near future may become unattainable after a period of about three years.

Implementation of the plan to remove non-native mountain goats from the park by lethal and non-lethal methods will begin this winter.

The decision document is available at parkplanning.nps.gov/mountaingoat.