The BC Wildlife Park said its mountain goat Gustav was struck and killed by lightning during Tuesday’s thunderstorm.
“It is with incredibly heavy hearts that we share the devastating news,” wildlife park staff wrote on their Facebook page. “This tragedy has left the entire BC Wildlife Park team in shock and disbelief.”
Gustav was found wandering alone on May 21, 2018, by the owners of the Wing Creek Resort in the west Kootenay town of Kaslo.
The mountain goat was eventually transferred by the BC Conservation Service to the BC Wildlife Park’s rehabilitation centre.
Gustav was very young when he arrived and required bottle feeding every two hours.
Earlier this summer, Gus was large enough to be moved into the park’s mountain goat habitat with the park’s two other mountain goats, Cloud and Gerrard.
“Gus loved climbing and exploring his new mountain enclosure and the BC Wildlife Park team loved watching him transition from a newborn to a young mountain goat,” the Facebook post read.
“The BC Wildlife Park is grateful to have had the opportunity to give Gustav a second chance at life and he will be forever missed.”
Tuesday’s thunderstorm brought 750 lightning strikes to the Kamloops area — 300 of which were recorded within a 16-kilometre radius of town.
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