Monitoring Country
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Goat

Other common names:
  • Nhaniguur in Gamilaraay/Gamilaroi/Kamilaroi/Yuwaalayaay/Yuwaalaraay, Wirribula in Gamilaraay/Gamilaroi/Kamilaroi, Wirrigaali in Yuwaalayaay
  • Scientific name: Capra hircus
Goat

Goats are a domesticated animal that can be kept as livestock for meat or dairy products. There are large populations of feral Goats in Australia that are not cared for or owned by people.

Goats are a threat to healthy Country

Goats can harm Country because they foul waterholes and graze and browse on a wide variety of native vegetation, leading to:

  • Decline in native plant health from overgrazing
  • Poor seedling regeneration
  • Soil erosion
  • Spread of weeds
  • Water pollution

Particularly during droughts, Goats can degrade native animals habitats like important breeding areas for Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) and compete for food resources and shelter with native animal species like Yellow-Footed Rock Wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus).

Goats are listed as a declared pest in all Australian states and territories except Tasmania, and competition and land degradation by Feral Goats is identified as one of the key threatening processes to native species under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. There is a national Threat Abatement Plan for competition and land degradation by unmanaged Goats.

Managing goats

Total eradication of feral Goats is not currently possible because of how widespread and well-adapted they are to Australia. Best practice management of feral Goats should aim to reduce the impact on Australia’s biodiversity. Control methods for unmanaged Goats include:

  • Mustering for commercial sale
  • Aerial shooting
  • Trapping at water points
  • Local eradication from islands or fenced areas
  • Judas goats

Where they live

place Occurrence Records

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Goat occurrence records © Atlas of Living Australia

Where they live

Goats were brought to Australia as domestic animals by early European colonisers. Feral herds have since established across large parts of Australia.

Habitat

Goats are found in agricultural areas including pastoral lands with remnant native vegetation, and in many different native environments across Australia. They prefer woodlands, grasslands and rocky outcrops, and usually establish near water sources in arid and semi-arid areas.

What they look like

Goats are medium, four-legged animals with hooves. Their coats can be short or shaggy and can be white, brown, black or a combination of colours. Male and female Goats have curved horns. Feral goats are usually smaller than domestic Goats.

Better understand:

REMEMBER! Any time you do work that might disturb or interfere with native animals and vegetation, particularly threatened species, you need to check with the state authorities to see if you need any approvals, such as licences or animal ethics committee permits. Click here for links to your state’s websites. 

You can monitor Feral Goats to better understand: 

  • Where Feral Goats are and aren’t on Country 

  • How many Feral Goats live on Country 

  • How well management of Country and Feral Goats is working 

By using one or more of the following methods, you can better understand Feral Cattle on your Country. If you monitor the same place at the same time every year, you can see if there are changes to Feral Cattle on Country. 

2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey 

A good way to monitor Feral Goats is by searching 2 ha areas for all signs of Goats, including tracks and scats. The survey is used to find signs of lots of different animals, not just Feral Goats. This survey doesn’t need specialised equipment but it is useful to have some tracking skills. 

What can you learn? 

Presence/absence – if and where Feral Goats live on Country 

Occupancy - If enough plots surveyed, the presence/absence data can be used to estimate occupancy. This type of modelling helps to work how many places really have Feral Goats, even if they weren’t detected at every plot. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be and if is getting smaller/bigger over time. 

Activity  - how many signs of Feral Goats were detected during the survey. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be. 

Using it the Right-way 

You can learn more about the 2 Ha Plot method on the “How we check on things” page and in the Standard Operating Procedure 2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey  

Remote Camera Survey 

Remote cameras can be set up to take photos whenever an animal passes in front of the camera. This method is useful for Feral Goats because it means you don’t have to search for them. The survey is used to detect lots of different animals, not just Feral Goats. 

What can you learn? 

Presence/absence – if and where Feral Goats live on Country 

Occupancy - If enough cameras are deployed at different sites, the presence/absence data can be used to estimate occupancy. This type of modelling helps to work how many places really have Feral Goats, even if they weren’t detected on every camera. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be and if is getting smaller/bigger over time. 

Activity  - how many detections of Feral Goats during the survey. This can be used as an indicator of how large the population might be. 

Using it the Right-way 

If you are only interested in Goats, then cameras should be deployed in their preferred habitats and in areas where there are signs of Feral Goats (e.g. scat, tracks, damaged vegetation). 

You can learn more about remote cameras on the “How we check on things” page and in the Standard Operating Procedure TITLE OF SOP  

Aerial Surveys 

This is a method where a helicopter or small aircraft is flown over a large area of Country to look for Feral Goats. You can use this method to monitor how many Feral Goats there are and where they are living on Country.  

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Remember Ethics and Permits

Any time you do work that might disturb or interfere with native animals and vegetation, check with the state authorities to see if you need any approvals.

VIEW PERMIT INFO
Camera Traps
Camera Traps
CLICK TO LEARN MORE
SOP Files
Using it the right way

Camera traps are widely used in wildlife conservation to monitor animal presence, the number of sightings over time, and animal behaviour. They can be set to automatically take photos or videos when an animal is detected. Most camera traps use passive infrared (PIR) sensors that trigger the camera when an …

2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey
2 Ha Plot: Tracks, Scats, Diggings & Signs Survey
CLICK TO LEARN MORE
SOP Files
Using it the right way

This is a method where trackers search a 2 Ha area for all signs of animals, including tracks, scats, diggings and other signs. If signs of a species are found in a plot, its presence is recorded. This method doesn’t focus only on feral Goats, as the presence of all species is recorded.

Primary sources

This landing page was developed using the following sources:

Primary sources 

This landing page was developed using the following sources: 

Tools and resources 

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