Every now and then, a hiker, or biologist lays eyes on a mountain goat in the nooks and crannies of the mighty Teton Range.
There鈥檚 a good likelihood that the doesn鈥檛 survive long after the authorities pinpoint its presence. That鈥檚 because the National Park Service is now removing all mountain goats that survived an effort of the species.
A striking white alpine species, mountain goats are being targeted by gunners because they鈥檙e seen as a threat to native bighorn sheep. Mountain goats are more aggressive, overlap habitat and can also spread .
鈥淲e have seen mountain goats 鈥� and we have removed those when we have found them,鈥� Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins told WyoFile in February. 鈥淲e hire a private contractor who does the flying in terms of doing the survey, and we hire a private contractor who does the removal.鈥�
Those contracted crews are 鈥渉ighly specialized鈥� in dealing with wildlife, he said.
Park rangers have enlisted the public in their efforts to keep mountain goats out of the Tetons. Signs have been posted at places like the Taggart Lake trailhead, and the messaging asks recreators to report, photograph and even record GPS points of bighorn sheep and mountain goats.
Teton Range bighorns are left alone. That native species has struggled for decades after development and . The Wyoming Game and Fish Department found just 80 bighorn sheep during its , though suggest that some animals are missed during aerial surveys and the population is somewhat larger.
Mountain goats are managed much differently. The Park Service is trying to remove the remainder to protect the bighorns.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the perpetuity business,鈥� Jenkins told WyoFile. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working to be able to ensure that we鈥檝e got bighorn sheep in the Tetons forevermore.鈥�
During from 2020 to 2022, some of the nonnative goats were missed.
Mountain goats reached the Tetons in the late 1970s from the introduced by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. By 2008, they were , and the National Park Service first proposed eliminating the population in 2013, when an estimated 鈥�10 to 15鈥� animals inhabited the range. It took nearly seven years to push those plans through, though, and by the time aerial gunners took flight in early 2020, the population had ballooned to about 100 animals.
Some in that operation, which was cut short when . Under pressure from Wyoming, the National Park Service allowed and they . The next winter, an aerial gunning operation , this time
It鈥檚 been known for years that the hunters and aerial gunners missed some mountain goats, which dwell in treacherous, complex Teton Range terrain.
鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely difficult to get every last one,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always been an expectation that some would remain.鈥�
A while climbing in summer 2024, a year park biologists confirmed 12 sightings 鈥� up from seven sightings the two prior summers.
At that time, park wildlife biologist Sarah Dewey told the News&Guide that they weren鈥檛 actively killing remnant goats.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have any specific actions planned at this time,鈥� Dewey said in 2024, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 very likely that we will need to take action at some point.鈥�
By the time Jenkins briefed WyoFile on the issue in February, the lethal operations were underway.
鈥淭he big effort was five years ago, in terms of doing the removal,鈥� the superintendent said. 鈥淣ow, what we鈥檙e doing is maintenance.鈥�
In November 2024, the Park Service鈥檚 contracted gunners killed 14 remnant mountain goats. There were 14 verified goat sightings in 2025, but no lethal operations occurred because there wasn鈥檛 the money to hire the aerial crews, said Yvette Converse, Teton Park鈥檚 division lead for science and resource management.
鈥淲e are potentially going to do it again this fall,鈥� Converse said, 鈥渂ut we have to see if that makes sense at the time.鈥�
So far, park rangers have not hiked into the Tetons to pursue mountain goats, but that option is on the table.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just risky and also difficult and costly to send people out on foot,鈥� Converse said. 鈥淚f we get to a point where we have very, very few sightings 鈥� then we could potentially do that.鈥�
In 2027 and beyond, Grand Teton鈥檚 Mountain Goat Management Plan calls for population 鈥渕aintenance鈥� that鈥檚 focused on 鈥減reventing immigration and removing any new goats that enter the park, using ground-based, tactical methods.鈥�
In the meantime, very few mountain goats likely remain in the Tetons.
鈥淏ased on a review of 2025 observations 鈥� considering location, group composition, and timing 鈥� we estimate 7鈥�8 goats remain in the southern portion of the park, with others possibly in the northern trailless and more remote canyons,鈥� Converse wrote in an email.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department shares the park鈥檚 goal of protecting Teton Range bighorns and the state agency along the west slope of the range starting in 2019 with the intent of removing the population. A few years later, however, the hunt was halted.
鈥淲e were eventually selling a license where it was really difficult to find a mountain goat,鈥� said Brad Hovinga, Game and Fish鈥檚 Jackson Region supervisor.
Wyoming wildlife managers don鈥檛 play any role in the goat-killing operations in Grand Teton National Park, Hovinga said. Outside the park, there hasn鈥檛 been a need to kill remnant goats, he said, because none have been documented for several years.
But if mountain goats are spotted outside the park along the west slope of the Tetons, Wyoming plans to follow suit.
鈥淲e do plan to remove (animals) if we do see mountain goats reappear,鈥� Hovinga said.
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