Baby mountain goat makes debut at Woodland Park Zoo
Sat, 06/23/2018
Head to Woodland Park Zoo to meet the newest kid on the block.
The 10-pound, female baby mountain goat named Daisy made her official debut to the public on Friday, June 22. She was born just six days earlier.
Daisy is already fairly sure-footed and adventurous, according to animal care manager Tina Mullett. “Baby goats are very nimble,” she said. “They jump around and climb on things. They’re very agile.”
Because of the baby’s strength and savvy nature, she is allowed to be in the exhibit full-time, Mullett explained. “We don’t feel the need to hold her in the back, in a more sheltered area,” she said. “There’s very little baby-proofing that we need to do for goat kids.”
This is the first time in more than 23 years that a baby mountain goat was born in the zoo. “This baby is healthy,” Mullett said. “She’s perfectly normal.”
The mountain goat exhibit, which includes Daisy’s mom Bluebelle and her relative Atlin, as inaccessible for the past few months, while construction was completed on a new boardwalk in the Northern Trail exhibit.
Now the walkway is open and guests are able to catch glimpses of baby Daisy.
“People don’t usually get to see mountain goats, because they’re up in high elevations,” Mullett said. “Now they can see them up close and personal.”
Daisy’s 4-year-old dad Albert moved in April to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs to help increase representation of the species.
Rocky Mountain goats naturally range from southern Alaska, Canada, Washington, Idaho and Montana. Transplanted populations now live in Colorado, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, South Dakota and Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
The animals are adapted for life on steep, cold mountain ledges--at elevations of 10,000 feet and higher.
Other animals in the Northern Trail exhibit include grizzlies, snowy owls, wolves, elk and Steller’s sea eagles.
The zoo is a hot spot in the summer, spokeswoman Gigi Allianic said.
In addition to the animal exhibits, guests come for summer concerts and events. Allianic particularly looks forward to the Zoo for All event on Thursday, July 5, which welcomes families with special needs children to the park.
The zoo is also celebrating the 100thbirthday of its historic carousel on Thursday, June 2. Allianic said that the ride is popular with guests of all ages.
“Adults like to ride it too,” she said.
Summer zoo hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through September 30. TheEvening Zoo is held six nights this summer starting in June and offers extended hours until 8:30 p.m.
Visit www.zoo.org/eveningzoo for information.
I pray they do better then the Elephants did.