JACKSON (WNE) — Grand Teton National Park has concluded a cull of invasive mountain goats, killing 58 with an aerial gunning operation aimed at preventing the goats from competing for habitat with and potentially spreading disease to the Tetons’ isolated native bighorn sheep herd.

“Operations to remove non-native mountain goats from the park are complete,” Grand Teton Chief of Staff Jeremy Barnum told the Jackson Hole Daily on Friday.

The backcountry closure from Cascade Canyon to Berry Creek lifted Friday afternoon.

“Given the terrain it is hard to determine precisely how many mountain goats remain in the park,” Barnum said. “Every mountain goat that was located was removed, but we assume there could be a few remaining in the range.”

Mountain goats, which migrated to the Tetons from the Snake River Range, compete with the bighorns for limited high-elevation alpine habitat and carry diseases that can threaten the native bighorns, which are already cut off from their traditional low-elevation winter range by human development.

The bighorns, also under pressure from backcountry recreation, have lived in the Tetons for thousands of years. The park and its affiliated Bighorn Sheep Working Group have closed certain areas of the park to wintertime recreation and recently asked skiers to avoid other areas where bighorns dwell.

Last week marked the second time Grand Teton contracted helicopter gunners to fly into the park, targeting the invasive mountain goat herd.