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The Olympic Goat Controversy: A Perspective
Author(s) -
SCHEFFER VICTOR B.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1993.740916.x
Subject(s) - national park , indigenous , wildlife , geography , perspective (graphical) , population , stock (firearms) , value (mathematics) , environmental ethics , political science , ethnology , fishery , environmental protection , ecology , history , sociology , archaeology , biology , demography , art , philosophy , machine learning , computer science , visual arts
Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) introduced into Olympic National Park are multiplying and causing soil erosion and changes in floral composition. Park managers want the goats removed or, if necessary, killed. But the Fund for Animals, a national humane society, argues that the present goat population should be left undisturbed as a replacement of a presumed indigenous stock that disappeared long ago. (I side with the park managers.) The debate underscores the value of both logic (or reason) and sentiment (or emotion) in making wildlife management decisions.