The chief goat-catcher for Puck Fair, Mr Frank Joy, has called for the protection of wild mountain goats, which he said were seriously in decline on the mountains in the south Kerry area.
This year's puck (male) is a rare black and white goat.
He was caught by a multi-national hunting party, which included five Irishmen, three French men and Mr Ahmed Mohammed al-Barami, a student engineer from Oman who distinguished himself in the chase, according to Mr Joy.
Nationally, there are no overall numbers for wild goats. Unlike red deer, for instance, goats are not a protected species.
However, wild goats are believed to be on the decline in some areas.
"The bringing down of the goat" is as traditional as the Killorglin Puck Fair itself, which can trace its literary origins to the early 17th century.
However, many scholars believe that the annual fair is as old as the August celebrations of Lugh, the god of light and genius.
This year there were only 10 goats on the mountains above Glenbeigh, high over Rossbeigh Strand where Oisín left for Tir na n-Og, the traditional hunting ground before Puck, according to Mr Frank Joy, who has filled the role of chief goat-catcher with the fair for the past 12 years.
Last year there were 23 wild goats divided between two herds. Less than 10 years before there were 84 goats in one herd alone, said Mr Joy, who described the decline in numbers as alarming.
Goats are considered to be a pest by many landowners and are culled, he remarked.
"The wild goat is disappearing. They have declined drastically. It's a shame. They are very intelligent animals and very independent also," he said.
Mr Joy now wants to start a Save the Goat campaign, and is confident of the support of the Puck Fair committee.
In the Killarney National Park, too, where Mr Pat Foley of Dúchas described numbers as "healthy", the wild goat does a lot of damage to plants and trees, he said.
This year's puck is "not the outsized puck we had for a few years", Mr Joy remarked.
A six-year-old sturdy goat, with a traditional conservative 2ft horn span, he will be crowned on Saturday and placed in a specially designed cage and stand high above the hill town of Killorglin on the banks of the River Laune, where he will reign for three days and nights.