Coronado

The first batch of wild goats captured on Navy-owned San Clemente Island is due to arrive by boat at North Island Naval Air Station today, and animal rights activists will begin taking the first steps toward putting the goats, once marked for slaughter, up for adoption. Cleveland Amory, an author and head of the Fund for Animals, which is carrying out the goat rescue, said 219 of the animals have been netted since the operation began Friday. “If we can keep up the pace during the time remaining to us (the first week in March) I’m sure we’ll reach our goal of 750 or 800,” he said. The animals are part of an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 goats on the island, 60 miles off the coast of San Diego. The goats have been marked for slaughter since Navy biologists several years ago said they believed the goats were ravaging the habitats of several plants, birds and animals that appear on the federal government’s list of endangered species.