Feral goat
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The feral goat is the domestic
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
(''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, ''C. aegagrus''. Although breeds can look different, they all share similar characteristics. Physically, both domestic and feral goats can be identified by their prominent straight horns (more prominent on male goats), rectangular pupils, and coarse hair. In addition, most domesticated goats/feral goats lie around 100 – 120lbs, with heavier goats tending to be wild goats.


Behavior

The feral goat is seen in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Great Britain, Hawaii, Brazil, Honduras, Lebanon, Panama, Madagascar,
Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands or Comoros (Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northwes ...
, Mauritius, Réunion,
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
, the Galapagos, Cuba and in many other parts of the world. When feral goats reach large populations in habitats which are not adapted to them, they may become an invasive species with serious negative effects, such as removing native scrub, trees and other vegetation. Feral goats are included in the
100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species is a list of invasive species compiled in 2014 by the Global Invasive Species Database, a database of invasive species around the world. The database is run by the Invasive Species Specialist Group ...
.   However, in other circumstances they may become a natural component of the habitat, even replacing locally extinct
wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threate ...
s. Feral goats are sometimes used for
conservation grazing Conservation grazing or targeted grazing is the use of semi- feral or domesticated grazing livestock to maintain and increase the biodiversity of natural or semi-natural grasslands, heathlands, wood pasture, wetlands and many other habitats.
, to control the spread of undesirable scrub or weeds in open natural habitats such as
chalk grassland Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover ...
and
heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
.


Diet

Goats are herbivores whose diet consists of plant materials such as trees, shrubs, and grasses. Due to their stomachs, which is four-chambered, goats have the capacity to eat many plants that are typically toxic to other animals.
Capeweed ''Arctotheca calendula'' is a plant in the Asteraceae, sunflower family commonly known as capeweed, plain treasureflower, cape dandelion, or cape marigold because it originates from the Cape Province in South Africa. It is also found in neighbor ...
, for example, is toxic to most animals due to the presence of high nitrate levels. However, goats have the capacity to process these chemicals and eat capeweed with little issue. Though goats stomachs are incredibly durable, some materials still remain deadly to goats and goats will seldom eat these materials. Molds, for example, are still highly toxic for goats and have the capacity to kill a goat if consumed. Nightshades and wilted fruit trees are also toxic to goats and any presence of Listeria bacteria can prove fatal to goats as they are incredibly susceptible to the bacteria. Outside of plant materials, goats have also been seen attempting to eat nearly any object that they're curious about as well. Notably, goats have been seen eating litter such as tin cans and
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and although their stomachs can process the material, they get no nutritional value from it and should still be eating plant materials.


Predators

Having a wide habitat range, goats also have a wide array of predators. Canine species are particularly impactful predators of the goat. These include coyotes, wolves, and foxes. In addition to these species, other animals such as bobcats and birds of prey, such as eagles, have been noted to hunt and eat feral goats.


Feral goats throughout the world


Australia


Majorca

Majorca or Mallorca is an island in the Balearic Islands, which are a part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean Sea. These feral goats, also known as Balearen bocs, were introduced by humans between 2300 and 2050 BC. They were originally used as a food source but eventually they began being a threat to domesticated goats and native tree species. The biggest threat to their conservation is hybridization with current domestic goats, but both are the same subspecies (''Capra aegagrus hircus''). These populations threaten the growth of new trees in several forests on the island, specially oak forests.


England

Around 5000 BP non-native goats also known as British primitive goats were brought to Britain as domestic stock, bread for milk and meat. Today, the goat species Capra hircus are still present in the country with a total population of 5,000–10,000 individuals. The number of goats are constantly changing due to management, conservation, reproduction and removal. This invasive goat species is destructive to the natural habitat and therefore means of removal are available. One way these goats are managed is through hunting. In England they do not have a closed season for goat hunting, and are able to be hunted year round.


Ireland

Feral goats were brought to Ireland over 4000 years ago for their meat, milk, and hair. They are typically found in mountainous regions of Ireland and have no known predators, not even humans. Feral goats are common in many areas of the Irish west coast including counties
Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...
, Donegal and
Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...
. There are about 5,000 goats in Ireland, and though they are not formally protected, they are often ignored by humans and not typically hunted. They are destructive when it comes to native species because they mainly eat grass, shrubs and young trees, but as of now there is no plan to eradicate them from the country.


New Zealand

Three goat species has been known to exist within New Zealand, namely the
Arapawa goat One of the rarest goat breeds in the world, the New Zealand Arapawa goat is, according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, critically close to extinction. A small, dual-purpose animal that was found isolated on the island of Arapawa in ...
, the Auckland Island goat and the New Zealand goat. Out of the three, the Arapawa goat's populations are too small for it to be any threat at all to the Arapaoa Island that it resides on, with them today being noted to be critically endangered. The Auckland Island goat was introduced in the 19th century to serve as a
food source Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...
for castaways on the
Auckland Island Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...
. Although about 100 goats were observed to have lived on the island at the time, this population managed to do considerable damage to the island's ecosystem. As a result, the goat population was located and dealt with accordingly. About 60 goats were exported off the island for
domestication Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. ...
in 1992 and the remaining population was killed off. As of 1999, the Auckland Island goat has been considered extinct. The last species, the New Zealand feral goats, were brought onto the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...
and South Islands in 1773 by early explorers, whalers, sealers and settlers who brought goats with them for food and bartering. Over time, more goats were brought in for a variety of purposes, from livestock to the handling of other
invasive plant species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...
. This problem culminated in 14% of New Zealand now being populated by feral goats, all of which have begun to destroy the natural
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
e of the islands. Currently,
hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...
and training
Judas goat A Judas goat is a trained goat used in general animal herding. The Judas goat is trained to associate with sheep or cattle, leading them to a specific destination. In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is s ...
s are the primary means of handling the threat but this has not done much to stop the goats and they still remain a threat.


Scotland

The feral goats of Scotland were brought in by Neolithic-era humans for farming purposes but were likely abandoned around the late 1700s due to the Highland Clearances, the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. These people were unable to bring their livestock with them and, instead, had to leave them to roam the Highlands. The goats from this collective of livestock were able to get a foothold in this environment however and within little time, the population of Highland goats exploded to about 3,000 to 4,000. Though they are very common to see, they are also heavily considered both a nonnative, invasive species by the Scottish government as well as a major threat to the Scottish Highlands with there being evidence of the goats contributing to grazing pressures on at least 18 different conservational sites. Hunting remains as one of the primary ways that the population is handled and though a few population management plans have been discussed, few have gotten off of the ground.


United States

One of the most acute United States feral goat issues arose on San Clemente Island off the coast of
southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
. The goats were first introduced onto the island as of 1875 from another nearby island, Santa Catalina Island, and had not been properly managed since, allowing their population to spike up to about 15,000. This population had begun to damage the natural ecosystem of the island, destroying crops and other plant life as well as interfering with the animals that had used said plants as a food source. The
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, being the owners of the island as of 1934, allowed
hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...
and
trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithi ...
of these goats until 1972 when it was determined that this had not made a dent in the goat population. An official
culling In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...
program had to be organized to properly exterminate the goats. The initial plan for handling the goat population involved going in with aerial forces and taking out the goats via
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s.
Fund for Animals Cleveland Amory (September 2, 1917 – October 14, 1998) was an American author, reporter, television critic, commentator and animal rights activist. He originally was known for writing a series of popular books poking fun at the pretensions an ...
, a
non-government organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
for ethical animal treatment, stopped this ruling though and suggested the alternative of
auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
ing off the goats to U.S. citizens on the
mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
. This plan eliminated 3,000 goats from the island just by moving them to mainland farms to be domesticated once more, and many of the goats that had not been bought were adopted by the Fund for Animals agency instead to protect them. Any remaining goats were permitted to be shot by the United States Navy and as of 1991, the island has been declared free of its feral goat issue.
The Livestock Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as "h ...
considers them a critically endangered heritage breed. In 2008, their global population was approximately 400, all domesticated. The goats’ bleat is so consistent that it is sometimes confused with a recorded goat sound.


Wales

Feral goats occur in the Welsh mountains. They are used for conservation grazing in a number of places, such as at Stackpole in South Wales or on
Great Orme The Great Orme ( cy, Y Gogarth) is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as ''Cyngreawdr Fynydd'' by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr, its English name derives from the Old N ...
in Llandudno in North Wales.


Short- and long-term effects of invasion

Feral goats in any country cause many long-term problems pertaining to the native vegetation. These problems are caused by overgrazing of these species, as well as the erosion of soil due to the loss of plant roots. These goats also affect native animal species because they are using a multitude of resources, causing an increased amount of competition. Lastly, they can affect the ecosystem by spreading plants and weeds into areas they aren't typically seen in through their excrement. This eventually causes damage because native species of plants now have competition.  Besides environmental damage, they also cause damage to the economy by damaging agriculture and causing the government to spend to control them.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feral Goat Introduced mammals of Australia Invasive mammal species Introduced animals of Hawaii