Oregon Zoo guests can now enjoy a Biscuit with a side of Jam and Jelly — but not the way you’d think. Biscuit, Jam and Jelly are the names of the three newest kids to join the zoo’s goat herd. Born at a local farm, the zoo adopted the Nigerian dwarf goat trio earlier this summer, and care staff say they’re making themselves right at home.
“They’re playing in the yard with the other goats and settling in very well,” said Jen Osburn Eliot, who oversees the zoo’s Family Farm area. “Biscuit is a year old and Jam and Jelly are about five months old, so the babies like to follow his lead.”
The new kids started spending time with the larger goat herd this week. So far, the zoo's six adult Nigerian dwarf and mini-Nubian goats have accepted their new family members with minimal head-butting.
“We’re really pleased with how the introductions are going,” Eliot said. “Goats are highly social animals, so it’s wonderful to be able to provide a herd environment for the new arrivals. They’ve been participating in our goat encounters as well, and guests are really enjoying them.”
Visitors to the zoo can enter the goat yard to meet the herd Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. t0 1:30 p.m. throughout the summer — Biscuit, Jam and Jelly included.
The nine goats at the Family Farm aren’t the only kids the zoo is caring for. Two goats also live at the Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation, located on Metro-owned open land in rural Clackamas County. There, they help out the resident California condors by eating wild vegetation, including invasive plant species like English ivy and Himalayan blackberry.
Source: Oregon Zoo