Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLAustralia’s Judas Goats
KANGAROO ISLAND, Australia –
Goats are smart, and sneaky; and goats in the wild that don’t want to be found probably won’t be. Enter the judas goats of Kangaroo Island.
The feral goats on Kangaroo Island were brought to the island by settlers almost 200 years ago. In the interim, they’ve done what goats do: eat and make more goats. The government now sees them as a problem and wants them removed to protect vegetation and the habitat of the endangered glossy black cockatoo. Some of the locals aren’t thrilled, but the program continues.
Goats are herd animals and as such don’t like to live alone. So what authorities in Australia have done is ship goats over from the mainland equipped with transmitters. Those goats, the judas goats, join groups of feral goats and give away their location so the goats can be removed.
Sadly, life for a judas goat isn’t all weeds and bark. Once all the feral goats have been hunted, the judas goats will also be killed.
That is sad. Why do they have to get rid of all of them?
I don’t think they ‘have’ to, they’re just choosing to in order to stop the goats’ eating the habitat of a species of cockatoo. Seems to me they’d be better off relocating or selling them.