Secret Wild Goat Cull Goes On In Snowdonia in North Wales: List of Other Species Also Culled (Killed) In Britain and Scotland

Unfortunately, they aren’t the only species. Humans just love to cull (kill). Here’s a list that is also found at the end of the article about other species that are culled in Britain and Scotland:

The culling field

Squirrels About 2 million grey squirrels in Britain. Defra plans cull in England and Scottish executive considering killing some of Scotland's 250,000 greys. Animals accused of being rival of red squirrels

Hedgehogs Regular culls on Uist. More than 500 killed so far

Deer Regular culls in Scotland to reduce road accidents and countryside damage, according to Defra

Badgers Intense pressure to cull heavily, based on belief that animals cause spread of bovine TB

Seals Scots fishing industry pressing for first seal cull in Scotland for 28 years rather than see fish quotas cut

Mink Scottish and Yorkshire culls

Seagulls, crows, magpies Pressure building to kill many birds considered to be pests

Boar Government considering cull. Animals common now in southern England

Ruddy duck Numbers have been reduced to about 4,500 from 6,000 in a long, costly and controversial attempt to eradicate non-native duck


Article:

Goats have roamed Snowdonia for 10,000 years; now they face secret cull
Marksmen begin killing to halt damage to woods and gardens - and make way for sheep

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1946196,00.html

John Vidal, environment editor
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian

They are shaggy symbols of national independence and a well-loved feature of the landscape of north Wales, but up to a quarter of all the wild goats living in Snowdonia are to be culled to allow sheep to graze more freely, to protect young trees and even to avoid car accidents.

A marksman employed by Gwynedd council has begun the first major cull of the animals, which are believed to have roamed the area since the last ice age nearly 10,000 years ago.

Article continues
According to a committee of landowners and conservationists from the National Trust and the Snowdonia national park, feral goat numbers have almost doubled in the last five years to around 500. They are accused of coming down off the high mountains, marauding through gardens and eating flowers, knocking down walls and eating saplings in protected woods.

Briefing papers prepared by the park authorities say that conservation efforts are being compromised by the goats. "[They] can potentially kill entire cohorts of trees. They can severely affect tree regeneration. There is also evidence that they do cause short-term localised loss of forage to farmers.

"Goats have been fenced out of sensitive areas, captured and removed. However, fencing is largely ineffective, live capture results in significant stress to the animals and finding 'homes' for the captured goats is becoming increasingly difficult." The cull, conducted secretly last week in Coed Dinorwic forest, overlooking Snowdon, is expected to be followed by major culls next year on National Trust land and in the Rhinog mountains, some of the wildest country in Britain.

"There is no intention to remove them [completely], but we need to deal with their growing numbers," said a spokesman for the Countryside Council for Wales at the weekend. "Local residents are worried about damage to their gardens and the real danger posed by the goats' feeding habits around highways." But there is concern that the rare goats are being persecuted by the authorities and being unfairly blamed for damage done by sheep, horses, rabbits and - mainly - man.

"We call them British 'primitives'. Some of them go back in a continuous line to the late ice age. They are locked into the history of Snowdonia," said Shirley Goodyer, an environmental biologist with the British feral goat research group.

"The goat was an essential part of the landscape and people's existence, providing meat, hair, horn, hoof and milk. Ecologically, they are good at clearing scrub; they protect rare plants. Were not pro- or anti-culling, but it can be very hard to tell the difference between damage done by sheep and goats. Culling can be indiscriminate. We may be reducing the breed too far. No full census has been done. These are some of the least known populations," she said.

Britain used to have as many as 250 herds of wild goats, now thought to be fewer than 50. Because of a series of mild winters, many herds have grown substantially. "If they are determined to cull, then it would be gross negligence to do it indiscriminately. They could cull out the old 'primitives'," said Ray Werner, an agricultural historian who has studied the Welsh goats.

"A cull like this could hasten the extinction of an ancient breed. The old Welsh goat is not even protected because it was technically domesticated 10,000 years ago by nomadic pastoralists. It's crazy that in London foxes are protected, but the wild Welsh goat is not. They do not have a home anywhere. They exist only on the goodwill of landowners. Anyone can go out and kill them."

"We're not sure why feral goats are coming off the hills," said Rod Gritten, an ecologist with Snowdonia national park. "They are a lot bolder with people than they used to be. In the past you would never see them. Now they are becoming cheeky ... they just hop over fences. I suppose we could put up goat-proof fences but that would cost millions.

"Farmers put out food for the sheep and the goats eat it. They are being paid to reduce sheep numbers and restore native vegetation but the goats are not allowing it to respond. They just ignore things like agri-environment schemes.

"One woman phoned to say that she had spent thousands of pounds on garden plants but 50 goats came and ate them all. Yes, we are anti-goat in a sense. There is a long history of agriculture in the uplands and, like it or not, the park authorities have to protect the interests of people."

This weekend Coed Dinorwic forest, an old oak wood near Llanberis which the goats frequent, was reopened to the public after the three-day cull. A random sample of 50 saplings under about 10 years old found about 10% nibbled by something. "That's nothing to the damage that people are doing. Yet we don't cull them," said John Francis, a Manchester pensioner out for a walk in the wood. "Why are they culling them now?"

"There's a lot of emotion about this cull. It has an effect on us all. The goat is part of the the environment here. That's why we are here," said one park employee, who asked not to be named.

"We've looked at all the alternatives. It's sad but there aren't any."

The culling field

Squirrels About 2 million grey squirrels in Britain. Defra plans cull in England and Scottish executive considering killing some of Scotland's 250,000 greys. Animals accused of being rival of red squirrels

Hedgehogs Regular culls on Uist. More than 500 killed so far

Deer Regular culls in Scotland to reduce road accidents and countryside damage, according to Defra

Badgers Intense pressure to cull heavily, based on belief that animals cause spread of bovine TB

Seals Scots fishing industry pressing for first seal cull in Scotland for 28 years rather than see fish quotas cut

Mink Scottish and Yorkshire culls

Seagulls, crows, magpies Pressure building to kill many birds considered to be pests

Boar Government considering cull. Animals common now in southern England

Ruddy duck Numbers have been reduced to about 4,500 from 6,000 in a long, costly and controversial attempt to eradicate non-native duck