Davis County Clipper | 1978-03-31 | Page 40 | 16 Goats Sighted

IGGQOlS giFliiGt) Kevin Cherry, Division of Wildlife Resources conservation conserva-tion officer, counted sixteen Rocky Mountain goats during the annual survey in Little Cottonwood Canyon in March. ROCKY Mountain goats are not native to Utah. In 1967 the Utah Division of Wildlife . Resources obtained six goats (four females and two males) from the state of Washington. The six animals were released in the Lone Peaks area of Big Cottonwood Canyon in June of . that year. The division had received reports of sightings of the goats from hikers in the area, but until 1974 none of these reports were verified. Division personnel surveyed ten goats last year. Six of the sixteen goats seen in March were, kids. Both sexes of Rocky Mountain goats have horns and, at a distance, it is very hard to distinguish between them. DESPITE THIS, seven of ? the surveyed goats are thought to be females, six f mature females and one yearling. The three remain-: remain-: ing goats are thought to be ' males. : One of these males had a ; tag in its ear identifying it as one of the original males put there in 1967 as a yearling.