RMGA Conservation Funds Provide Veterinarian Support in Olympic National Park

By: Katie Haman, DVM, MSc

This past summer the RMGA Conservation Fund generously provided funding to support the translocation efforts of mountain goats from the Olympic Peninsula to their native Cascade mountain range. As a result of this support, Dr. Katie Haman, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Wildlife Veterinarian, was able to participate in these captures, providing much needed veterinary support to ensure the humane capture, treatment and health assessment of translocated goats.

During this momentous effort, a total of 211 mountain goats were removed from the Olympic Peninsula. Thanks to the RMGA Conservation Fund, Dr. Haman was able not only to assist in providing optimal health care and assessments, but also provide hands-on animal handling training and research support to university wildlife and veterinary students, volunteers, as well as state, federal, and tribal biologists.

As a result of Dr. Haman’s participation, WDFW was able to provide the utmost care and treatment of relocated goats and, just as importantly, through comprehensive veterinary assessments, ensure that translocated goats were healthy and didn’t pose a disease threat to resident goats in the Cascades. Without the charitable backing of the RMGA Conservation Fund, the extensive veterinary support of these efforts would not have been possible.