Feral goats

Feral goats are a destructive agricultural pest that cause significant environmental and financial damage. They are found in all mainland states of Australia with the largest numbers found in NSW, southern Queensland, central-eastern SA and WA.

To ensure a coordinated approach to feral goat control, MLA’s investment in this area is largely through its support of the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS).

PestSmart which is powered by the CISS, provides information about feral goats relating to their biology, ecology, impacts and best practice management.

Fast facts

• Feral goats are also widely harvested as a commercial resource.
• The MLA publication Going into Goats: Profitable producers' best practice guide provides useful information for producers considering goats as a commercial enterprise.

Impact of feral goats in Australia

Feral goats can affect livestock enterprises as they:

• compete with sheep for feed
• compete with managed goats for feed
• interfere with controlled goat breeding programs
• carry and potentially spread diseases to managed goats and sheep
• reduce biodiversity by damaging soils and vegetation in the pastoral zone.

Control methods

The PestSmart website contains detailed Standard Operating Procedures for control methods, including:

• ground shooting
• aerial shooting
• mustering
• trapping
• Judas goats.

The recording and mapping of feral goat activity via the FeralGoatScan app or website is encouraged as well as recording on-farm and community control activities. This coordinated tracking approach will help improve the effectiveness of future control programs.