Zoo welcomes 3 tiny goats to its Family Farm

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 Nigerian dwarf goats — the three newest kids to join the zoo’s Family Farm — 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.”

To see video of the new arrivals, go to bit.ly/new-goats.

The new kids started spending time with the larger goat herd last month. 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.”

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 the resident California condors by eating wild vegetation, including invasive plant species like English ivy and Himalayan blackberry.

As part of Metro, the Oregon Zoo helps make greater Portland a great place to call home. Committed to conservation, the zoo acts globally on behalf of species from pikas to polar bears. Over the past 30 years, it has prevented extinctions, expanded populations, advanced conservation science and formed powerful communities to protect wildlife in the Northwest and around the world.

Visit us at oregonzoo.org/visit.