The family offered to remove the feral goats for no cost and arranged for the animals to be transported to the Wodonga Abattoir. The goats are predominantly rangeland goats, and this meat is characteristically lean and tasty. Since 1993, a different third of the overall survey area of ~1,200,000 km2 was flown each year. Audio Player failed to load. Domestic goats arrived in Australia to Sydney on the first fleet in 1788, there were just 19 and by 1790 the number had grown to 1900. • In Western Australia, fixed- wing surveys of feral goats were flown in 1987, 1990 and 1993. They can be found in all states and territories and on some offshore islands, but are most common in the rocky or hilly semi-arid areas of western New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.

Today, Australia has about 2.3 million feral goats, with the greatest numbers in semi-arid pastoral areas of Western Australia. Try to Download directly (1.96 MB)

Most of our growers keep rangeland goats on … Map shows the density of the feral goat (Capra hircus) in Western Australia, 2007.Compiled by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre and the National Land and Water Resources Audit, in collaboration with the Australian, State and Territory governments. Goats attracting mixed reviews in western NSW The West Darling Pastoralists Association recently made a submission to the Natural Resources Commission, emphasising how valuable feral goats were to producers in the area. Unlike a lot of other feral animal species, goats aren’t constrained to only certain areas – they cover 28 per cent of the country everywhere from western New South Wales to South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland. Escapees bred up to number in their thousands in certain areas, especially in mulga country in parts of central and north-western NSW (eg Cobar), up into Queensland’s Cunnamulla and Charleville region, and in south-eastern W.A. However, they do tend to prefer rocky and hilly semi-arid areas. They were then sold for their meat, which was typically exported overseas. With a population of approximately 2.6 million feral goats covering 28 percent of the land area. With prices at market rivalling those of lamb, feral goats have been a saviour for many producers in western New South Wales. Due to it’s low fat content and low cholesterol qualities, goat meat is very popular world wide and is perfectly suited for stewing meat. Carbon farming, also known as carbon sequestration, pays landholders to regenerate native vegetation by reducing the number of grazing cattle and sheep, overabundant native kangaroos, and feral animals such as goats, donkeys, horses, and camels. Feral goats can cause major agricultural and environmental damage. In Australia, feral goats were estimated to cause $25 million of losses to farming each year, according to Local Land Services. The population of feral goats is spread throughout Australia but are very rare in Northern Territory. Due to the wool price slump feral goats were for the first time worth more money than domesticated sheep, so trapping and trucking them became financially viable. In Western Australia is limited to taking feral and pest animals on private property with the land owners’ permissions. Escaped and released goats established feral populations. These are some of the species classified as feral in Western Australia – rabbit/hare, foxes, pigs, goats, and wild dogs.

Feral goats now occur across 28 per cent of Australia. Most are descended from cashmere and angora breeds, with 80% of feral goats producing cashmere. Goats are common in the Carnarvon, Murchison and Yalgoo bioregions. They can be found in all states and territories and on some offshore islands, but are most common in the rocky or hilly semi-arid areas of western New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.