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to cull Devon valley goat flock By David Harrison / Environment Correspondent They have roamed the rugged rocks of Devon for centuries but now the county's wild goats face the marksman's bullet. The council is considering a cull of the animals in a move that has divided the tranquil tourist village of Lynton on the north Devon coast. Supporters say that a cull is necessary to curb the goats' growing population and their increasing tendency to behave badly. Brazen billy goats have jumped on cars, frightened visitors, ruined gardens and - worst of all - fouled the cricket pitch. However, opponents are appalled that the ancient herd, mentioned in the Doomsday Book and as much part of the coastal scenery as the jagged 500 ft cliff tops, could be shot. They describe the proposed slaughter as "cruel and unnecessary" and say that there is no firm evidence that the goat population is too high. Even if it were, they argue that some of the goats should be moved to other parts of the country rather than shot. The area inhabited by the goats is known as the Valley of Rocks. The exact size of the herd is unknown but estimates range from 50 to 120. Geoff Dwyer, the town clerk at Lynton and Lynmouth council, said that the population had increased in the past few years because mild winters had enabled more goats to survive. "Culling is a last resort but it is under serious consideration," he said. "People either love the goats because they attract tourists and are part of the area's heritage, or they hate them because they chew flowers and trees, frighten some tourists and make a mess on paths, benches and on the cricket pitch. "There is definitely a musty odour in places, and it's been worse in recent years because we have had less rain to wash away the goats' waste. That has upset quite a few people." The council has received dozens of complaints - and several threatening phone calls - about the animals. Supporters of the goats say that the answer to the problem is not by culling the animals but stopping them coming into the town by the erection of a goat-proof fence. Jan Hunt, a member of the Friends of the Lynton Goats society, formed in 1997, said: "Shooting the goats would pose huge problems. The goats are hefted [they have a "herd memory" of the area], which means that if they kill the wrong ones then their knowledge of how to avoid dangerous ledges and so on will not be passed on to offspring." Carolynn Gold, another society member, said that the goats were "a very valuable part of the valley" and a cull would be "distressing". She added: "We think there are only about 50 to 80 goats and that is not a problem at the moment. There are problems with goats getting into gardens in the valley, into allotments and the cemetery, but that could be solved by beefing up the fences." The society has offered to help residents who want to erect more fences and argues that if the goat population did rise to an "unsustainable level" then a better option than culling would be to move some carefully chosen goats to another area. The current herd of goats in the valley arrived in 1976 but the breed is believed to date back more than 6,000 years to the Neolithic period. The Doomsday Book states that there were 75 goats at the Manor of Lyntonia in 1086. The animals were removed from the valley in the mid-19th century and replaced by white goats thought to be from the Royal Herd at Sandringham, Norfolk. This herd was wiped out during the harsh winters of the early 1960s. The current herd started in 1976 when three feral goats from the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland were introduced into the valley. The herd grew to 150 and there was an outcry when 100 were shot in 1997. Since then small groups of goats have been relocated to Kent, Surrey and various country parks. Dr. Ray Werner, a founder-member of the British feral goats research group, said that the problem could be solved with a mile of fencing on two sides of the valley, relocation if numbers continued to rise and "humane killing" if new homes could not be found. He said: "The billies are hefted over a wider area than the nannies and there are more of them than usual this year so more are wandering into town. Fences would stop that." The council has commissioned a scientific study of the goats and said that no decision would be taken until March. 
Feral Goats, England
Feral Goats live in rocky areas of North and West Britain. They live on rocky slopes, moors and cliff tops where there is less competition from other species such as sheep and deer. Populations are small and widely isolated from each other. They live in small herds. Feral Goats are found in Western Ireland, The Scottish Highlands, and North Wales. They are also found in many areas of Europe such as Crete. Where did they come from? Man has kept goats since the Stone age, and early settlers to Britain brought goats with them. Some of these escaped and founded wild populations of feral goats. However most populations probably originate from more recent times. For example during the Highland clearances after 1745, many goats were probably freed when their owners were forced off the land. A detailed genetic study would be interesting to see exactly when these wild goats originated, and how much they have diverged from there domestic cousins What do Feral goats look like? Because the goats have different origins and live in isolated and non interbreeding groups there is considerable variation in their appearance. However they tend to have long shaggy hair. They are much smaller than domestic goats, roughly half the size. Both sexes possess horns that grow continuously. It is easy to tell wild sheep from wild goats, as wild goats have straighter horns, while the sheep's curls more. What do Feral Goats eat? Like most goat species feral goats prefer to browse than to graze. They will eat shrubs, bushes, leaves and gorse. This diet prevents competition with deer which prefer more grassy diets. A Feral Goat Year Rutting is in the early to late Autumn and males compete for access to females. Females have discrete territories, but males range over a further field. The goats tend to stay in rocky mountaintops, but will descend to the valleys in search of food during the winter. Kids are born in January to March. Normally only one kid is born. They suckle for about 3 months. Most kid's die of exposure, predators are not a significant problem. Adults live for up to 5 years. Research and Conservation Research on the behavior of Feral Goats has been conducted in the late 1990s on Lundy Island by Dr. Paul Ward from Leeds University. Feral Goats were probably much more widespread in the past than they are now, and populations may be declining still. For more information about Feral Goats and the research being conducted about them I recommend contacting Tracy Livingstone at the :
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