News of a baby goat stranded on a Hawaiian cliff for several days led a group of rogue rescuers on a mission to save the frightened animal.
Four days had passed after a Waianae resident first noticed a white baby goat trapped along a steep, skinny cliffside ledge.
First spotted on Monday, the concerned resident sought rescue teams to bring the baby goat to safety.
Despite efforts from the Honolulu Fire Department, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaiian Humane Society, the goat remained confined to the towering ledge.
Four days had passed after a Waianae resident first noticed a white baby goat trapped along a steep, skinny cliffside ledge
Despite efforts from the Honolulu Fire Department, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaiian Humane Society, the goat remained confined to the towering ledge
As days continued to pass, hope for the animal’s rescue from the treacherous cliffside began to fade.
That was until Ben Hansen, a Kailua resident, was alerted to the goat’s predicament via social media.
‘He saw the Hawaii News Now Instagram post and he’s like, look, there’s a goat. Looks like he’s stuck,’ Hansen’s wife, Govinda Hansen, told the news outlet.
‘So he showed it to me and I’m a sucker for baby animals, or animals in general. So I was like, we need to go get this goat,’ she said.
Govinda and her husband weren’t the only ones roped into the rescue mission.
Several Instagram users replied to the post, including two men who would eventually join the Hansen couple on their quest to save the animal.
Govinda Hansen and her husband Ben weren’t the only ones roped into the rescue mission. Caleb Morrison, another avid hiker, later connected with the couple, explaining to the pair that he had climbing gear that could help them reach the troubled goat. Pictured: Govinda explaining in an Instagram post how she connected with Morrison while on their way up to the cliffside
‘The goat started to kind of panic as we approached, so we just kind of hung back, slowly inching forward and using, like, a team strategy of kind of corralling the goat,’ Morrison said. Pictured: Rescuers successfully corralled the trapped animal and brought it to safety
After a few minutes of waiting and baiting, the baby animal ventured within arms reach of Ben Hansen (pictured), who capitalized on the opportunity and ‘just bear-hugged the little guy all the way down the mountainside’
‘A swarm of people sent me the post,’ said Caleb Morrison, ‘like, “Go save this goat, Caleb!”
Morrison then connected with the Hansens, explaining to the pair that he had climbing gear that could help them reach the troubled goat.
Capturing the entire, hours-long ordeal on film via a drone and cell phone video, the crew of strangers gathered at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Center before taking off on their ascent.
Morrison, who was trailing behind Ben during the climb, said: ‘The goat started to kind of panic as we approached, so we just kind of hung back, slowly inching forward and using, like, a team strategy of kind of corralling the goat.’
Before the group’s steep climb, the self-proclaimed ‘avid hikers’ were unsure of just ‘how big of a cliffside it was.’
‘I was very relieved that we got him safely,’ Govinda said. ‘We named him Bala. Bala means white. He’s beautiful.’ Pictured: Rescuers with the baby goat
The goat was so hungry that it immediately drank an entire bottle of milk
‘He’s happy,’ Govinda (pictured) said. ‘We put him down on grass and he just like chilled there. He seems to be doing good’
‘We weren’t exactly sure how big of a cliffside it was,’ Morrison said, ‘and we wanted to get in there as quick as possible, just because it had been there already for four days.’
Upon their eventual approach, the baby goat appeared to be ‘super skittish,’ Morrison said.
As they got within feet from the goat, Ben baited the animal with an apple, hoping it would jump into his open arms.
‘I was down the cliff under the goat, waiting to see if he jumped,’ Ben said.
After a few minutes of waiting and baiting, the baby animal ventured within arms reach of Ben, who capitalized on the opportunity and ‘just bear-hugged the little guy all the way down the mountainside.’
Bala the goat is now at Aloha Animal Sanctuary
Morrison said it took 45 minutes to bring the goat down.
‘I was very relieved that we got him safely,’ Govinda said.
‘We named him Bala. Bala means white. He’s beautiful.’
The goat is now at Aloha Animal Sanctuary.
Bala was so hungry that he immediately drank an entire bottle of milk before happily prancing through the sanctuary’s lush grass.
‘He’s happy,’ Govinda said. ‘We put him down on grass and he just like chilled there. He seems to be doing good.’
