Hoping for witnesses

There is still no trace of the missing herd of goats

A herd of 17 goats went missing in the Sellrain Valley (symbolic image).

(Bild: Christoph Buchacher)

After the disappearance of an entire herd of goats in the Tyrolean Sellraintal (district of Innsbruck-Land), there is still no trace of the 17 animals. A hunter suspects that the animals are still somewhere together on the mountain. The search for the missing animals is now hoping for help from hikers.

The fate of a herd of goats that has been missing in the Tyrolean Sellrain Valley since the beginning of August remains uncertain. The disappearance of an entire herd is indeed "very unusual", hunter Johann Haselwanter confirmed to APA on Tuesday. The search is made more difficult by the fact that the animals could be on three different mountains. The herd is probably "on the move", Haselwanter said, and will be found in the near future.

Disappearance of an entire herd is new
The disappearance of a herd - in this case consisting of 17 animals - has never happened before. It does happen that several animals die at the same time, for example due to a lightning strike. "But then you find them," explained Haselwanter. In any case, the goats would usually stay together - except in the event of an attack by a predator.

A herd of goats on the mountain is conspicuous at this time of year
If, as suspected, the animals are traveling together on the mountain, then it is not unlikely that no one has noticed them during the summer months. However, this is now changing, because by mid-October all the animals should have long since drifted off the mountain, according to the chairman of the local hunting association. As the missing animals are also striking white and black animals, he is confident that this is the case. If anyone notices animals roaming the mountain, they should report them.

The herd of goats had disappeared from a farm in Gries im Sellrain. Despite search operations including drone flights and thermal imaging cameras, the herd has not yet been discovered. Only a single goat returned in August, apparently completely distraught. The herd also included several fawns. It is "completely atypical" for a goat to return to the field without its young.