Utah’s ‘goat man’ is a hunter, wildlife officials say

Utah's "goat man" has come forward after drawing international media attention.

The man spotted dressed in a goat suit frolicking among a herd of mountain goats is a 57-year-old hunter from Southern California, wildlife officials told Salt Lake City TV station KSTU.

He called officials on the advice of a friend and provided enough information to put their curiosity to rest. Phil Douglass of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources told the Ogden Standard-Examiner he didn't ask for a name.

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The man said he was testing out the goat suit in preparation for an archery hunt of mountain goats in Canada in 2013.

Douglass said the man came to Utah because he heard it was easier to get close to the goats, the Standard-Examiner reported.

He described his costume as a hooded painter's suit covered in fleece.

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"In talking to him, I felt he was very knowledgeable, a very experienced hunter. He's hunted internationally," Douglass told The Associated Press. "My concern all along was that this person needed to understand the risks, and certainly after talking to him, I felt he was doing the best he could to understand and mitigate those risks … He was simply preparing for a hunt."

Photographer Coty Creighton snapped several pictures of "goat man" when he came across the goat herd while on a hike last week.

He noticed one goat trailing behind the rest. Thinking it was injured, he grabbed his binoculars to get a closer look and was shocked to see a man dressed in a crudely made goat suit.

"We were the only ones around for miles," he told the AP. "It was real creepy."