Goat kids make their debut at Northwest Trek in Eatonville

White, fluffy and full of goofy antics, a group of new kids have found a home at the Northwest Wildlife Trek Wildlife Park, goat kids to be exact.

A group of mountain goat kids scampered into the vast expanses of the 435-acre Free-Roaming Area at Northwest Wildlife Trek Wildlife Park Tuesday morning, Nov. 13, and began exploring their new home, according to a Northwest Wildlife Trek press release.

There were five goats altogether. Four of the young goats will stay at Northwest Trek where they can choose to roam while a fifth will soon be rehomed to another zoo. The four permanent goats include females Fairchild and Bailey and males Klahhane and Elwha.

“We are delighted to provide a permanent home at Northwest Trek for these mountain goat kids,” Andrea Smith, president of the Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners, stated in the press release. “We know our visitors will appreciate seeing them grow up and learning about their conservation success story.”

The mountain goat kids were all relocated to Northwest Trek from Olympic National Park in September.  Until now, the goats lived a private life behind the scenes while being cared for by Northwest Trek’s animal keepers and veterinarian Dr. Allison Case, according to the press release.

The five kids are part of a larger project to re-establish depleted mountain goat populations in the Washington Cascades. A large group of non-native goats were relocated from Olympic National Park in September in partnership with the National Park Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and with support from local Native American tribes, the press release stated.

Woodland Park Zoo and the Oregon Zoo helped transport the kids and Northwest Trek’s veterinary team collaborated with its partners to provide care to the mountain goat kids.

Ninety-eight mountain goats were moved from Olympic National Park to the northern Cascade Mountains, including 11 kids and their nanny goats. The six kids that could not be paired up with a nanny goat were transferred to Northwest Trek. The sixth goat as recently moved to Woodland Park Zoo, the press release stated.

Want a chance to see the fluffy new family? Visitors to the wildlife park can search for the goats from the naturalist-narrated tram tour, included with admission to Northwest Trek. Guests can also purchase a seat on the special Keeper Adventure Tour, an off-road free-roaming tour of the area.

Northwest Trek is open from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The wildlife park will be closed on Thanksgiving Day but will open the following weekend.