Mountain goats are tricky. Nannies and billies look so similar that hunters have difficulty telling them apart, which makes wildlife management challenging. They are very difficult to hunt, but they are vulnerable to overhunting. Mountain goats are native only to western North America and inhabit some of the most inaccessible terrain imaginable, so they have not been well studied. But that’s changing.

Biologists are using helicopters to monitor and survey goat populations and GPS collars to track their movements, offering insight into the size and use of their home ranges. A new and better understanding of these animals’ vulnerabilities is emerging.

Phil Mooney is responsible for managing the mountain goats on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska. The goat population on Baranof has declined 42 percent in recent years, from a high of about 1,500. Hard winters and hunting have both been factors. The harvest of nannies is of particular concern. They produce the young that are recruited into the population, enabling it to grow.

“Research shows that when a population is in decline, if you continue to harvest nannies, and especially older nannies, you can lose the whole population,” Mooney said. “Since the average age of breeding females is four, and some females don’t breed until they are five or even six, you lose a lot of your recruitment.”

Helicopters are the mountain goat surveyors’ best friend, and in mid-August Mooney flew the ridges of Baranof Island near Sitka to count mountain goats. The adults and kids were on ledges and on cliff faces between 3,800 and 4,500 feet in elevation. He counted 259 goats, about 220 fewer than that same area in 2004. There were about 16 kids per 100 adults, down from 22 per 100 adults in 2004. Mooney said that’s not a bad ratio of kids to adults, but it’s not a sign the population is growing.

Read more: Managing Mountain Goats in Alaska

AUSTIN – A rare catch of a red-breasted piranha in a community lake near Houston recently illustrates the need for prohibition of invasive aquatic species in Texas waters.

According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials an actual piranha is a VERY rare occurrence in the wild—only 2 documented specimens in 30 years—and possessing and releasing live piranhas and dozens of other exotic, harmful or potentially harmful fish species is prohibited by Texas law.

Dave Terre, management and research chief with TPWD’s Inland Fisheries Division, said the 23-acre Tom Bass Park community lake in Pearland on the outskirts of Houston where the piranha was caught on Aug. 27 remains a great place to go fishing and is completely safe to go fishing there.

“We strongly believe that this is an isolated catch,” said Terre. “Our biologists will do an electrofishing survey of the lake to confirm this.”

Biologists say piranhas are unlikely to be able to over winter and they will not reproduce.

Terre said it is possible someone held this specimen in captivity illegally and disposed of the fish in the lake.

Game wardens remind individuals that first offense for possession of prohibited fish species is a Class C misdemeanor in Texas, with a maximum $500 fine. Subsequent convictions are Class B and Class A misdemeanors, which could carry jail time and heftier fines. Anyone caught releasing a live, prohibited fish in Texas faces a Class B misdemeanor for first offense, and repeated offenses can bring state-jail felony charges.

If someone catches a fish that they cannot identify or suspect may be an exotic species they should not return it to the water, handle it with caution, and contact their local game warden or TPWD fisheries office.