Rescuers Catch 100 More Island Goats

The number of wild goats captured on San Clemente Island since Friday passed the 100 mark Monday, and the head of the animal rights group conducting the rescue said he is encouraged by the progress.

Cleveland Amory of the Fund for Animals said only 500 or 600 goats remained on the Navy-owned island as of last week. “We still have almost two weeks to go for them,” he said, adding that the retrieval of more than 100 in four days is “very encouraging.” His teams removed 870 of the goats earlier this year.

Littered With Explosives

This is the first time the Navy has permitted the capture team to operate in the shore-bombardment zone of the island, which is about 60 miles west of San Diego. The zone is littered with unexploded missiles fired from warships during practice maneuvers held during at least 48 weeks each year, a Navy spokesman said.

Originally, the Navy had planned to shoot the goats because biologists said the animals were destroying several types of plant and animal life which appear on the federal endangered species list. But, with the help of Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, the Fund for Animals was given a chance to conduct a rescue operation during periods when no bombardment was going on.

Goats Find Homes

In late February and early March, a Fund for Animals team, hovering low in a helicopter and firing a net from a special device, brought back the 870 animals, all but 100 of which have been adopted by private citizens.

“In fact,” Amory said, “we got just about all the goats that were outside the bombardment zone. The rest were smart enough to stay in that area. Now the Navy finally has let us go in there, and we have hopes of saving every last one of them.”

The rescue team, for which the Fund for Animals has assumed full responsibility in case of mishap, was briefed by Navy experts on how to identify and avoid unexploded ordnance.

‘Dangerous Operation’

But Navy spokesman Ken Mitchell said he still considers it “a dangerous operation.”

Amory said the first batch of newly rescued goats is expected to be shipped by barge to San Diego Thursday and taken to the Ramona Animal Sanctuary in San Diego County. People interested in adopting one or more of the animals may telephone (619) 282-6292, he said.