Canada: Mountain Goat Kills Attacking Grizzly
In British Columbia, a mountain goat kills an attacking grizzly bear with its horns. A rare incident reveals the animals' capacity for self-defence.
In a dramatic natural spectacle, a mountain goat turned the tables and killed a grizzly bear.
According to the wildlife authority of Parks Canada a forensic necropsy revealed that the 70-kilogram female grizzly bear was killed by a mountain goat, which delivered fatal blows with its sharp, stiletto-like horns into both armpits and the back of the neck.
«The necropsy determined that the female grizzly bear died a natural death, attributable to an unsuccessful predatory attack on a mountain goat«, said David Laskin, a wildlife ecologist with the Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay Field Unit.
«Grizzly bears hunting mountain goats is relatively common, and I suspect that in this case the mountain goat was successful and turned the tables on the grizzly. These mountain goats are large animals and their horns are very sharp.»
A hiker discovered the grizzly bear carcass on 4 September, the busy Labour Day weekend, just a few metres from the Burgess Pass Trail, a 12.9-kilometre hiking trail near Field in Yoho National Park in Canada.
The cause of death of the female bear could not be conclusively determined at that time, so a forensic necropsy was carried out; however, wildlife experts already had a suspicion, as a herd of mountain goats was present in the area.
Laskin said the location of the bear's fatal wounds — both armpits and beneath the neck — were consistent with grizzly bear attack behaviour and mountain goat defensive responses.
«When grizzly bears attack, they tend to focus on the head, neck and shoulders of their prey, typically from above, meaning the mountain goat's defensive response is to protect itself with its sharp horns«, he said.
«The forensic necropsy confirmed that the wounds sustained prior to death corresponded in size and shape to mountain goat horns, ruling out other causes, including human intervention.«.
Steeve Côté, a renowned mountain goat expert and professor at Laval University in Quebec, said that grizzly bears can be significant predators of mountain goats. He pointed out that in his study area at Caw Ridge near Grande Cache in Alberta, the grizzly bear is the primary predator.
«Goats can kill a bear, but that is a rare event«, he said. «All they need is a well-placed horn thrust.»
In this most recent case, the female grizzly bear, weighing approximately 70 kg, was rather small for a bear in the Canadian Rockies, but according to Laskin, it was in fair to poor body condition for the time of year.
«There was no indication that the female bear had cubs«, he said, adding that the animal had not been tagged and was unknown to Parks Canada.
Male mountain goats, which are experienced rock climbers and supremely adapted to mountainous environments, can weigh more than 125 kg in the Canadian Rockies, with females weighing approximately 15% less.
Grizzly bears are known to prey on mountain goats when the opportunity arises, and this behaviour has been observed in recent years at other locations within Yoho National Park – as well as elsewhere.
In 2018, a mountain goat fitted with a GPS collar for research purposes was apparently killed and eaten by a grizzly bear just below the treeline near Sherbrooke Lake in Yoho National Park, close to the border with Banff National Park.
Although there was evidence at the site that a grizzly bear had fed on the mountain goat, Parks Canada could not conclusively confirm that it had killed the goat, but suspected that this was the case.
The sparse remains of a mountain goat were discovered by Parks Canada wildlife officers after the goat's GPS collar had switched to mortality mode and transmitted a signal indicating that the collar had not moved in the previous 24 hours.
In another incident this year, a passerby on the Trans-Canada Highway filmed a grizzly bear attempting to hunt a goat and her kid on the cliffs along the highway near Mount Bosworth, west of the Lake O’Hara interchange.
«Although rare, other cases have been reported in the past in which mountain goats killed bears in self-defense«, said Laskin.
«This is not entirely surprising, as mountain goats are powerful animals that are well capable of defending themselves«.
In this most recent case, the hiker who stumbled upon the bear carcass did the right thing by immediately leaving the area and reporting the find and its location to Parks Canada.
Parks Canada not only wanted to perform a necropsy to determine the cause of the bear's death, but also quickly removed the carcass to prevent it from attracting other wildlife, including predators, to the area.
«Carcasses attract predators and other wildlife that may react aggressively to protect their food source«, said Laskin. «This can pose a risk to visitors in the area,» writes Rocky Mountain Outlook.
