Mountain goats share Teton Range with bighorns

For the first time, Wyoming Game and Fish is finding more mountain goats than bighorn sheep in the Teton Range.

Game and Fish Biologist Aly Courtemanch conducted the annual Teton bighorn sheep and mountain goat aerial survey. Usually conducted in conjunction with other big game surveys in February, Courtemanch and his pilot took advantage of favorable weather earlier in the year.

The high elevation survey recorded 88 mountain goats, up from 66 last year. The number of bighorn was up 5 from a year ago to 81.

In the Teton Range, Bighorn Sheep have been historically found in two separate herds. About half occupy the northern portion of the range and the other half in the southern end. This year, 44 were found in the north and 37 on the southern end.

Mountain goats generally occupy the central portion of the range. This year they were fairly widely dispersed, but mostly in the northern section of the range west and northwest of Jackson Lake.