DSC0216 Mountain Goat...
Mountain Goat (Wild) - Capra aegagrus hircus
Findhorn Valley, Scotland
The feral goats of Scotland were brought in by Neolithic-era humans for farming purposes but were likely abandoned around the late 1700s due to the Highland Clearances, the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. These people were unable to bring their livestock with them and, instead, had to leave them to roam the Highlands. The goats from this collective of livestock were able to get a foothold in this environment however and within little time, the population of Highland goats exploded to about 3,000 to 4,000. Though they are very common to see, they are also heavily considered both a nonnative, invasive species by the Scottish government as well as a major threat to the Scottish Highlands with there being evidence of the goats contributing to grazing pressures on at least 18 different conservational sites. Hunting remains as one of the primary ways that the population is handled and though a few population management plans have been discussed, few have gotten off of the ground.
DSC0216 Mountain Goat...
Mountain Goat (Wild) - Capra aegagrus hircus
Findhorn Valley, Scotland
The feral goats of Scotland were brought in by Neolithic-era humans for farming purposes but were likely abandoned around the late 1700s due to the Highland Clearances, the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. These people were unable to bring their livestock with them and, instead, had to leave them to roam the Highlands. The goats from this collective of livestock were able to get a foothold in this environment however and within little time, the population of Highland goats exploded to about 3,000 to 4,000. Though they are very common to see, they are also heavily considered both a nonnative, invasive species by the Scottish government as well as a major threat to the Scottish Highlands with there being evidence of the goats contributing to grazing pressures on at least 18 different conservational sites. Hunting remains as one of the primary ways that the population is handled and though a few population management plans have been discussed, few have gotten off of the ground.