HAWI, Hawaii (KHON2) — Five days, a full-scale climbing attempt, and one goat who simply won’t come down.
The goat was first spotted Monday on a narrow ledge on the cliff on Hawaii’s Big Island. Theories on how she got there vary: chased by predators, spooked by wild pigs, or simply lost her footing.
Originally estimated at 300 feet, climbers now say the Hawi cliff is closer to 120 feet, but no less treacherous. The top is loose and eroding. The face is nearly vertical. Their efforts yesterday were careful and courageous, and nearly worked.
There’s been a huge community rally behind her, but rescuers say this may be the end of their line.
“You’re basically brand blending vertical work on a cliffside. You’re blending, essentially, wrangling of livestock, and you’re blending waterman stuff. And, you know, I’m okay to say at this point, we don’t really have what it takes to push this thing to the next level, and we’re not really sure how best to do that,” said Kevin Dorn, co-founder and CEO of Vertical Worx.
“Once we were on site, once we took time, established all the anchors and got everything set up, started sending guys down the cliff,” said Dorn. “Basically, once they started getting within 15 to 20 feet of her, she jumped right up and was moving quickly and was very alert. And so it was not what we expected.”
Where she is now is about 15 feet above the shoreline, but unreachable by foot.
Experts say she’s alert and healthy looking, but definitely feral, and pushing the situation could do more harm than good.
“And that’s one of the biggest reasons we didn’t try and push guys down lower, was that that whole cliff side is not acceptable. To go past where we were would have not been acceptable,” said Dorn.
Debbie Cravatta, president and founder of the Kohala Animal Relocation and Education Service, or KARES, said they aren’t giving up hope.
“We’re not giving up on her. You know, we’re gonna save her one way or another,” said Cravatta. “We want this animal to be kind of like the little bit of hope we have, and bringing us all together as a community, of course, with aloha, and to bring awareness and education to humanely treating animals.”
KARES said they’re using food to lure the goat farther down and volunteers are coordinating a rescue effort from the ocean.
“We have some jet skiers going out there and some really good local surfers. And they said, ‘Hey, get the goat. Just get it in the water,'” said Cravatta.
The volunteer climbers said it’s not the ending they had hoped for, but they still consider their efforts a victory.
“I think the biggest takeaway from this is just that we’re very appreciative for the opportunity to step in and help a community that clearly cares,” said Bridger Christiansen, Chief Operating Officer for Vertical Worx.
On July 12, the rescue attempts were temporarily suspended due to poor weather conditions, but rescuers plan to watch from afar and resume their operations on July 13.
KARES is still accepting suggestions on how to rescue the goat. They can be reached at 808-333-6299.
