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Posted: 2nd March 2016

Goats get the thumbs down from US officials
goats
'The goats were not selective in what they ate, devouring native plants along with invasives'. (stock photo)
Conservation project falls short as goats devour native plants

A team of goats employed to remove invasive plants from a park in Salem have proved unpopular with city officials after they munched their way through native plants, damaged tree bark and brought a 'barnyard aroma' to the area.

The pilot project involving 75 goats took place over a six-week period at the end of last year. The animals were tasked with removing invasive Armenian blackberry and English ivy from a plot of nine acres at the Minto-Brown Island Park.

Despite high hopes, the city's public works department was less than impressed, if a recent report is anything to go by. It states: 'The goats were not selective in what they ate, devouring native plants along with invasives'.

The goat team also damaged the bark of certain trees, particularly maple and hazelnut, and carried a 'barnyard aroma', the report continues.

On a positive note, they were successful in removing the ivy from trees and the ground and removed the leaves from all of the blackberry canes they could reach, though they did not eat the canes.

Their work came with a price tag of just under $21,000, however, which the report says is more expensive than other possible alternatives.

The goats may have got the thumbs down from public works officials but they were almost universally welcomed by park users, who said they were 'a pleasant, pastoral addition to the scenery'.

 




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