The Bilberry goat () is a breed of

feral goat The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') when it has become established in the wild. Feral goats occur in many parts of the world. Species Feral goats consist of many breeds of goats, all of which stem from the wild goat ...

(''Capra aegagrus hircus'') which is believed to have lived in one herd on Bilberry Rock in

Waterford City "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

in the south of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

for hundreds of years."Between a rock and a goat's place in Waterford"
''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', August 2009. Unlike any other breed found in

, the Bilberry herd is thought to be related to

Pashmina Pashmina (, ) refers to, depending on the source, a term for cashmere wool of the Changthangi cashmere goat,Janet Rizvi: ''Pashmina: The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond''. Marg Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-8185026909. for fine Indian cashmere woolRobert R ...

, Maltese or

Cashmere goat A cashmere goat is a type of goat that produces cashmere wool, the goat's fine, soft, downy, winter undercoat, in commercial quality and quantity. This undercoat grows as the day length shortens and is associated with an outer coat of coarse hai ...

s."Ancient goats face extinction"
''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', May 2005. Locals believe they came over with the

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

over 300 years ago and have lived on Bilberry Rock ever since.Bilberry Goat Heritage Trust
, local voluntary society responsible for the care of the herd The goats are feared close to extinction; numbering only 7 in the year 2000 and 21 in 2005. A group of volunteers formed the Bilberry Goat Heritage Trust in 2000 to protect and support the herd. The population has continued to recover and reached 42 in 2008.Goats of Waterford
Heritage Week run by

Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage ( ga, An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who is ...

and

Fáilte Ireland Fáilte Ireland is the operating name of the National Tourism Development Authority of the Republic of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 and replaces and builds upon the functions ...

The herd is led by a dominant nanny. Bilberry goats are large, with shaggy coats and very large horns. Two members of the British Feral Goat Society, Dr.Shirley Goodyer and Dr. Ray Werner, together with Robert-Jan Prins, a breeder of

Dutch Landrace goat The Dutch Landrace is a traditional Dutch list of goat breeds, breed of domestic goat. It has been known in the Netherlands since the seventeenth century, and was formerly numerous there. It came close to extinction in the 1950s, but was saved b ...

s, reported that they were "amazed to see a primitive herd still living in the wild", and that the goats are a "unique ancient breed."

Conservation

The Bilberry Goat Trust was set up to protect these goats from extinction. The 14-acre (5.7 ha) piece of land where they graze used to be a

commonage Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a r ...

but was sold to a developer who wanted to build houses on the whole area. This would render the Bilberry Herd extinct and appeals were made sparking publicity. Zoning authorities decided to reduce the goats' area to . The

Irish Wildlife Trust The Irish Wildlife Trust has been a nature conservation charity and lobbyist in Ireland since 1979. It was renamed from the Irish Wildlife Federation. The head office is based in Glasnevin, in Dublin. One of the founders of the Irish Wildlife Trust ...

is actively involved in the campaign.Staggering response to ‘save the goats’ petition
,

Waterford News & Star The ''Waterford News & Star'' is a local newspaper based in the Irish city of Waterford, first published as the ''Waterford Star'' in 1848. In December 2007, it changed from a broadsheet to a tabloid. ''The Waterford News & Star'' in 2010/11 m ...

, article preserved by

Thomas Crosbie Holdings Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) was a family-owned media and publishing group based in Cork, Ireland. Its largest publication was once the ''Irish Examiner'', the third largest daily broadsheet newspaper in the Republic of Ireland. History and recei ...

The feral goat is not a protected species and Bilberry Rock is not a

Natural Heritage Area Natural Heritage Area () is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in Ireland. The Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 makes legal provision for the designation and protection of a national network of Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs). The de ...

under the

Wildlife Act 2000 Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted fo ...

Notes

References

Bilberry Goats of Waterford

Bilberry Goats
on

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External links

The Bilberry Goat Heritage Trust website

Bilberry Goats Blog
nbsp;— ''by The Bilberry Goats Heritage Trust on

Blogspot Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 which enables multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be accessed thr ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilberry Goat Conservation in the Republic of Ireland Feral goats Goat breeds originating in Ireland Goat breeds Waterford (city)