Olympic Mountain Goats 
Introduced into the Olympic Mountains, these nimble 
animals have done so well that they are endangering 
plants that a national park is supposed to protect 
by Michael Hutchins and Victoria Stevens 
At home among wind-worn rocks 
and alpine meadows lying at or above 
timberline, mountain goats have 
adapted to an environment that is in- 
hospitable by human standards. In the 
mountains, they have gained at least 
a temporary reprieve from the destruc- 
tive byproducts of civilization — the 
pollution, urban expansion, and envi- 
ronmental deterioration that have 
pushed many lowland species to the 
brink of extinction. High above the 
clouds they can seem distant and re- 
moved — white shadows in a mountain 
mist. 
The mountain goat ( Oreamnos 
americanus) is not a true goat, but 
a goat-antelope. The only living mem- 
ber of its genus, its closest relatives 
are the mountain-dwelling antelopes 
of the Old World, including the cham- 
ois of Europe and the goral, takin, 
and serow of Asia. The species’ natural 
range extends from Alaska to Idaho, 
Montana, and Washington in the 
United States, and includes Alberta, 
British Columbia, and the Northwest 
and Yukon Territories in Canada. 
One of the best areas for observing 
these remarkable herbivores is in 
Olympic National Park, located on the 
Olympic Peninsula in northwestern 
Washington state. In the rugged 
Olympic Mountains they seem to epit- 
omize the beauty of nature, and they 
are extremely popular with visitors to 
the 1,400-square-mile wilderness pre- 
serve. Appearances, however, can be 
deceiving. At present, the animals are 
the cause of considerable concern to 
park managers and conservationists. 
The problem is that mountain goats 
are not native to the Olympic Pen- 
insula. Introduced to the region pur- 
posely, they may be causing signifi- 
cant changes in the natural ecosystem. 
Mountain goats were introduced to 
Keith Gunner 
the Olympic Mountains between 1925 
and 1929, through the combined ef- 
forts of Washington state wildlife 
agents, the U.S. Forest Service, and 
a local sportsman’s club. Records of 
the number of animals involved in the 
transplants are sketchy, but appar- 
ently eleven or twelve were released 
near Lake Crescent in the north-cen- 
tral portion of the peninsula. The ani- 
mals came from Alaska and the Ca- 
nadian Rocky Mountains near Banff, 
Alberta. 
Why mountain goats were brought 
to the Olympic Mountains is not a 
matter of record, but since they have 
long been prized as trophy animals, 
the potential for establishing a har- 
vestable population probably provided 
some incentive. At the time, the region 
was administered by the Forest Ser- 
vice, which has traditionally allowed 
recreational hunting on its lands. Long 
before the animals became numerous 
enough to hunt, however, much of the 
peninsula fell under the jurisdiction 
of the National Park Service. In 1933 
control was transferred to the Depart- 
ment of the Interior, and in 1938 the 
area became Olympic National Park. 
Protected by federal law, the intro- 
duced goats proliferated, and current 
estimates suggest that as many as 700 
may inhabit the region today. 
The absence of native goat popu- 
lations in the Olympic Mountains 
poses an interesting biogeographical 
question, particularly since the habitat 
is ideally suited to these animals and 
since they are native to the Cascade 
Range less than 100 miles to the east. 
A knowledge of the region’s geologic 
history is essential to an understanding 
of the evolution and distribution of 
its flora and fauna and, ultimately, 
of the problems associated with the 
introduced mountain goats. 
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