English: Descendants of mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) introduced in southern Montana mountains during the 1940s and 1950s established a population in the park in the 1990s and have reached a relatively high abundance in the northeastern and northwestern portions via the Absaroka and Gallatin mountain ranges. Investigations of paleontological, archeological, and historical records have not found evidence that the mountain goat is native to Greater Yellowstone.

Many people consider the goats a charismatic component of the ecosystem, including those who value the challenge of hunting them outside the park. But the colonization has raised concerns about the goats’ effects on alpine habitats. Competition with high densities of mountain goats could also negatively affect bighorn sheep, whose range overlaps that of mountain goats.

Image: NPS/Diane Renkin