Feral Goat
Common name: goat
Scientific name: Capra hircus
Family: Bovidae
Description: Distinctive in appearance, the goat is relatively small. Males weigh about 40 kg, females about 27 kg. Both the male and female goat have distinctive curved horns. Their coat varies widely in colour, and can be quite shaggy depending on the breed.
Habitat and distribution
The feral goat is found in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. It lives in rocky or hilly country in semi-arid rangelands. It is very mobile, travelling freely through most fences in pastoral areas and easily invades areas from which it has been removed.
It likes Australia's dry pastoral areas used for sheep grazing because water is available and there are few dingoes.
Life history and behaviour
A convenient livestock animal for early European settlers, the goat has become one of the most environmentally destructive feral animals in Australia.
Introduced to Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, the goat was valued by settlers for its meat and milk, with some breeds also providing mohair. On Queensland's offshore islands, goats were released as a source of food for lighthouse keepers.
The goat is a herbivore and eats most plant matter, especially in pastoral areas, including leaves, twigs, roots, fruits and bark. It likes trees and shrubs more than grass and will try and get the highest quality food. It needs to drink during dry spells.
Goats become sexually mature at an early age and usually have one or two kids each pregnancy. Gestation is five months. With a regular supply of food, many feral goats can have two litters within a year. Females with a kid are often pregnant.
Without control measures, a goat population can increase by 75 percent in a year.
Environmental impact
Early pastoralists, townspeople and miners took the goat with them into inland Australia. During the 19th century, sailors also released many goats onto islands and the mainland for emergency food supplies.
Unfortunately feral goats now compete with native animals and domestic livestock for food, water and shelter. They have had a major impact on native plants and cause damage to habitat and natural pasture. Estimates of goat populations vary widely with a total population possibly 2- 3 million.
In very high numbers, the goat is environmentally devastating. It eats nearly all plant life below 1.8m. Its hooves break the soil which, combined with destroyed plant life, makes the soil more vulnerable to erosion.
On Queensland islands, including Moreton Island, goats have caused much damage with eradication programs being implemented to control the pest.
The feral goat has been blamed for the decline of native animals such as the yellow-footed rock-wallaby. When forced out of rock shelters by the goat, the yellow-footed rock-wallaby is easy prey for foxes and wedge-tailed eagles.
The feral goat can carry many internal and external parasites, some of which can affect sheep. It also carries foot rot which is very hard to remove from sheep if goats are nearby.
How can it be controlled?
Goat populations are kept under control to some extent through mustering, trapping and shooting. Where common, the dingo can also adequately control the goat.
High rates of reproduction and the goat's mobility means control is difficult. If the goat was to ever reach its full reproductive potential, it would breed in numbers that would turn most of its habitat to near desert.
Thanks to control measures, this hasn't happened. In fact, the goat is one of the few feral animals for which eradication can be considered. As goats join herds, isolated groups on islands or surrounding farmland can be destroyed at reasonable cost.
A technique called 'Judas' goat is used to track down feral goat herds. For this, a radio transmitter is attached to a trapped goat, which then leads a hunter to a feral goat herd. This is far more effective than people trying to track down a herd and allows a hunter to find the last pockets of a goat population.
Last reviewed 19 July 2011
Last updated 10 December 2010