Animal News: Mountain Goats Addicted To Human Urine To Be Evacuated Or Shot At National Park
Ramon Dompor/The Seattle TimesBlindfolded and sedated mountain goats being flown out of Washington’s Olympic National Park.
We’ve all heard the saying “when pigs fly,” but what happens when goats fly?
So far, more than 75 mountain goats have been flown out of Olympic National Park in Washington state as part of a larger plan to remove the species from the area.
According to NPR, the non-native goats have been wreaking havoc on the park by both disrupting the alpine ecosystem and assaulting visitors. The animals crave salt and because the park is not their natural environment, there are no salt licks for them to enjoy, so the goats have to turn to the next best thing: humans.
The mountain goats have been harassing hikers because they are attracted to the salt in human sweat and urine. When the goats see a human, they basically see a walking, talking salt lick.
Goats have been disrupting the natural ecosystem of the national park and attacking humans, even killing a man in 2010, which sparked concern from officials over the aggressive animals.
The Olympic National Park needs the goats out of the area and the North Cascades has seen a recent dip in its mountain goat numbers, so the hope is that moving the goats to the area can help make up for the dwindling numbers. However, David Wallin, a professor in the environmental sciences department at Western Washington University, warns that this plan is just one step in the right direction, not a complete solution.
