Mountain goat

Every mountain goat herd in Utah comes from introductions. The first, in 1967, brought six goats from Olympic National Park in Washington to the Lone Peak area. Today the largest herds are in the Uinta Mountains and in the Tushar Mountains and on Mount Dutton near Beaver, with smaller herds in the Wasatch, around Willard Peak, Wasatch Peak, Mount Nebo, Mount Timpanogos and Little Cottonwood Canyon, and in the La Sal Mountains.

Both billies and nannies have horns and beards, and the horns are never shed. Split hooves with rubbery pads grip steep rock, and a thick double coat, white to dull gray, handles wind and cold. They eat high-country grasses and wildflowers, plus conifers, shrubs and lichen, and move only a little lower in hard winters.

Wild Aware Utah advises staying about 150 feet away or more. Goats can stand their ground or charge, nannies with kids are protective in spring, and billies get more aggressive in the November rut. Keep dogs leashed, never get close near a cliff edge, and turn back if a goat is coming down your trail.