Updated at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance announced on social media that five-year-old mountain goats Elbert and Magnolia are leaving Denver for colder climes.
The Denver Zoo’s animal care teams decided the goats needed a cooler climate to thrive. Summer on the High Plains was just too hot for Rocky Mountain goats.
Instead of going higher in altitude, the goats are taking the other cold-weather option: increasing their latitude. They're heading north to Minnesota.
Each summer in Denver, they were given shade, ice and misters, the zoo noted. Though they did have their little artificial mountain at the zoo, the Mile High City is just too low in altitude for them to stay well, at least in this part of the country.
“Elbert and Magnolia were born in 2019 in Tacoma, Washington and were rescued after being declared ‘nuisance’ wildlife as a result of human-wildlife conflict in the area,” the zoo posted to Instagram,” according to the post.
As Brian Aucone, the zoo's chief conservation officer, explained it to Denver: "It’s not necessarily a climate change issue, and more about temperature — because they [typically] live at such high elevation where temperatures are more temperate. They are returning to the facility in Minnesota where they [previously] came from, where the average temperatures are lower."
The goats arrived in Denver in 2020.
“They have charmed everyone with their big personalities, heart-shaped noses and the watchful presence they kept over campus from the top of Goat Mountain,” the Zoo noted.
But life in Denver has been tough for the duo. In 2023, Willow, another mountain goat, died of a miscarriage at the zoo.
Months later, Elbert and Magnolia lost their two-month old kid Salix, who died of unknown causes.
The mountain goat habitat will be home to a new species soon – hopefully one that thrives in Denver’s climate.
Editor's note: This article was updated with comment from the zoo.
