Alaska state troopers got a call about people harassing the mountain goat and another about a large group following it on to the breakwater rocks

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A mountain goat in Alaska jumped into the ocean to get away from crowds snapping its picture, and the animal drowned when it couldn’t get back to land because of the crush of people on shore, troopers said.

Alaska state troopers said it was imperative to give animals adequate space. That didn’t happen on Saturday in downtown Seward, and troopers said in an online post that it “resulted in a wild animal dying for no cause”.

It comes amid a series of incidents of people getting too close to wildlife, including tourists in Yellowstone national park, who picked up a bison calf they thought was abandoned. It had to be euthanized.

In Alaska, troopers got a call about people harassing the goat and another about a large group following it on to the breakwater rocks.

