Goat drowns while trying to escape crowds of people

According to Seward City News, a lost mountain goat in Seward, Alaska, tried to escape a frenzied following of excited photographers by hopping into the nearby bay. After it had already been in the water once, “a large amount of people followed the goat towards the SeaLife Center on the rocks, resulting in the goat jumping back into the water”, state troopers wrote in a press release.

KTUU reports that the animal had gotten “spooked” by the crowd and at some point jumped into the water.

“There was a sea otter next to it. And then a woman’s Spaniel swam out to it”, witness Kerri O’Neill, who had just finished dinner at a Seward restaurant when the goat ran by, told the station.

The mountain goat’s appearance on the rocks of a breakwater at Seward harbor, less than 130 miles (209 km) south of Anchorage, was unusual and caused a stir, Alaska Department of Public Safety spokesman Tim DeSpain said by phone.

Unable to exit the water because of the throng of people on the rocks, the goat subsequently drowned in the waters of the bay.

Half an hour later they say the goat was spotted again, this time in the ocean swimming near the Alaska SeaLife Center.

Troopers said a Good Samaritan recovered the goat’s carcass, which was given to a local charity.

“It is imperative that wildlife is given adequate space to be able to leave a congested area like downtown Seward”, the dispatch from Alaska State Troopers said.