HONOLULU (KHNL/Gray News) – A baby goat that was stuck alone on a cliff for days in Hawaii is finally safe thanks to a few good Samaritans.
A Waianae resident first spotted the small white goat on Monday, but first responders said they couldn’t rescue it due to its location.
However, just as hope began to fade, the power of social media stepped in.
Kailua resident Govinda Hansen said her husband, Ben, alerted her to the goat’s predicament.
“He saw the social media post 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.
And Hansen wasn’t the only one. People started getting plans together on social media, including Travis Woo and Caleb Morrison.
“A swarm of people started sending me the post on Hawaii News Now, like, ‘Go save this goat, Caleb!’“ Morrison said.
Hansen said Morrison had climbing gear, so they went to the cliffs with others and they spotted the goat in the same spot.
“The goat started to kind of panic as we approached, so we just kind of hung back,” Morrison said. “We then slowly inched forward and used a team strategy of corralling the goat.”
The avid hikers carefully made their way up the steep terrain.
Once they were within the goat’s reach, they used an apple and a drone to distract it.
When the goat ventured closer to them, the rescuers were able to bear hug the little guy all the way down the mountain.
It took 45 minutes to bring the baby goat down.
“I was very relieved that we got him safely,” Hansen said. “We named him Bala. Bala means white. He’s beautiful.”
Bala is now at the Aloha Animal Sanctuary, safe at last. He was also hungry and immediately drank an entire bottle of milk.
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