204 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



YOUNG ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOATS. 



AT LAST THE MOUNTAIN GOAT 



LIKE the mountain sheep, wolverine, and 

 Canada lynx, the mountain "^oat is to 

 every zoological park or garden a very elusive 

 animal. Although quite a number have been 

 caught, both young and adult, in at least nine cases 

 out of every ten they have come to grief in a short 

 time. Of a lot of seven kids that were caught 

 last spring especially for us, all died of lung and 

 intestinal troubles, long before they were to have 

 been shipped. One adult animal broke a leg and 

 had to be killed, and another died of malnutrition. 

 The isolated zoological position of the Mountain 

 Goat, and the fact that it is our boldest and best 

 chff-climber, makes it an animal of special interest 

 to the public. After two years of correspondence, 

 and one active campaign a-field, the Zoological 

 Society has succeeded in securing a pair of speci- 

 mens of a highly satisfactory character. They 

 were captured on June loth and nth, on White 

 River, a tributary of the Kootenay, about one 



hundred miles south of Fort Steele, British Colum- 

 bia. They are of opposite se.xes and came from 

 two well-separated bands. They were kept at 

 Fort Steele until last October, and were brought on 

 in cool weather, arriving in fine condition. Because 

 of the fact that they are yet young and small, they 

 have been quartered in the Prong-Horned Ante- 

 lopes' House, near the Southwest Entrance. They 

 are very droll little creatures, and are keenly scru- 

 tinized by visitors. 



At present they are feeding well, on clover hay 

 and crushed oats, and are in perfect health. Ex- 

 cepting the pair exhibited for about two years in 

 the Philadelphia Zoological Garden (now dead), 

 and two shown a few years ago in the Boston 

 Sportsmen's Show, these appear to be the only 

 living specimens of their kind ever exhibited in 

 the United States. In the spring they will be 

 transferred to their permanent home on Mountain 

 Sheep Hill. 



