Review of the management of feral animals and their impact on ...

3.7.16 Goat (Capra hircus)
Summary
A very damaging <strong>feral</strong> pest, increasing in numbers in Western Australia <strong>and</strong> New
South Wales, <strong>and</strong> probably in Queensl<strong>and</strong>, that seriously degrades habitat, eliminating
rare plants <strong>and</strong> competing with rare fauna. Goats require more attention in temperate
Western Australia <strong>and</strong> western New South Wales.
Distribution
Feral goats are widespread within <strong>the</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong>s, especially in arid <strong>and</strong> semi-arid
regions. Very large numbers are present in some national parks, with 50 000 taken out
<strong>of</strong> Yathong National Park in a year (although few now remain), <strong>and</strong> 6 000 removed
from Currawinya National Park in south-west Queensl<strong>and</strong> in a ten week period.
Goats prosper in sheep producing regions where dingoes have been eliminated. Feral
goats are <strong>of</strong>ten maintained on grazing l<strong>and</strong>s by l<strong>and</strong>holders as an alternative source <strong>of</strong>
income.
In <strong>the</strong> Pitjantjatjara l<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> north western South Australia, goats have recently been
released into an area <strong>the</strong>y did not formerly occupy by Indigenous people (Peter
Copley pers. comm.). Dingoes are likely to eliminate <strong>the</strong>m.
Impacts
Goats are such serious pests that competition <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong> degradation by <strong>feral</strong> goats has
been declared a threatening process under <strong>the</strong> EPBC Act. Goats have three kinds <strong>of</strong>
<strong>impact</strong>s:
1) Habitat degradation
2) Elimination <strong>of</strong> rare plants
4) Competition with rare fauna
Habitat degradation
Goat can occur at densities <strong>of</strong> up to 40 per square kilometre (Parkes et al. 1996), <strong>and</strong>
in high numbers <strong>the</strong>y can denude vegetation, especially on rocky slopes - a preferred
habitat. By st<strong>and</strong>ing on <strong>the</strong>ir hind limbs <strong>the</strong>y can remove foliage high on shrubs <strong>and</strong>
trees. They are more damaging than sheep because <strong>the</strong>ir diet is very varied,
incorporating grasses <strong>and</strong> herbs, shrubs <strong>and</strong> trees.
The degradation <strong>the</strong>y cause includes erosion on <strong>the</strong> steep hills, pollution <strong>of</strong> water
supplies, <strong>and</strong> alteration <strong>of</strong> vegetation succession. Farmers in many sheep-producing
regions are turning to goats as a second source <strong>of</strong> income, <strong>and</strong> this shift in l<strong>and</strong> use
practise is leading to widespread l<strong>and</strong>scape degradation. In north-western New South
Wales, goats are widely considered to be <strong>the</strong> worst pest.
Parkes et al. (1996) noted:
‘Goat dung can be deposited around waterholes <strong>and</strong> springs to a depth <strong>of</strong>
several centimetres. Dung, toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> bodies <strong>of</strong> goats that fall into <strong>the</strong>
water <strong>and</strong> decompose, is likely to eutrophicate <strong>the</strong> water <strong>and</strong> have a major
effect on freshwater biota… Goats can also reduce <strong>the</strong> amount <strong>of</strong> water,
aggressively exclude some species…<strong>and</strong> can cause <strong>the</strong> water levels in rock
holes to be so lowered as to exclude o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>animals</strong> or cause <strong>animals</strong> to fall in,
drown, <strong>and</strong> pollute <strong>the</strong> supply.’
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