Preparation of rangeland goats for live export

Summary

Very few goats have been exported by sea from Australia since 2008, to address concerns over their welfare on long voyages.

This project identified management practices designed to better prepare rangeland (wild-caught) goats for live export, such as increasing their contact with humans and ensuring they were used to eating and drinking out of troughs.

Best practice guidelines were also drafted on how to manage goats captured from the wild, which may also be useful for the wider goat industry.

Researchers concluded that the export of goats by sea, particularly rangeland (wild-caught) goats, was not feasible until better methods are developed to control the internal parasites they often carry.

Objectives

The objectives of this project were to develop guidelines for pre-export and on-board management of domesticated goats, along with improved management processes to domesticate rangeland (wild) goats.

Based on these outcomes, the plan was to develop a quality assurance system for managing goats on long sea voyages; however, it was decided not to proceed with this.

Key findings

The project defined several different types of goats and agreed each needs to be managed differently during preparation for live export and during a voyage:

• Domesticated goats have distinct characteristics of recognised breeds and pedigrees, have been ear-tagged and raised on the property where they were born, and been subject to practices such as vaccination and worming.
• Feral goats are domestic goats that have gone wild.
• Rangeland goats are those captured from the wild, rather than coming from a managed breeding program.
• Limiting long-haul live export of goats to only domesticated goats was seen as a way to effectively manage welfare risks, which were predominately unique to wild-captured goats. Risks included greater incidence of disease and stress, aggression, not drinking enough due to lack of familiarity with using troughs, and exposure to weather extremes due to typically lower levels of fat cover.
• Increased interaction with humans improved welfare and production outcomes for wild-caught (rangeland) goats by reducing stress, adding weight and improving behaviour.
• Treatment with an anti-GnRH vaccine reduced aggressive behaviour amongst male goats. However, the vaccine is not registered for use in goats and would need a vet prescription.
• A high level of internal parasites in many rangeland goats resulted in deaths regardless of the management practices being used, and exporting them via long-haul voyages is not recommended until there are more effective control measures available for coccidiosis and salmonella in particular.
• Best practice guidelines developed for the management of rangeland (wild-caught) goats address areas such as nutrition, managing aggression, on-farm handling, and health regimes (including vaccination and parasite control). They require further testing, but are potentially relevant not just to the live export goat trade, but the wider industry as well.

Benefits to industry

This project provided a greater understanding of management practices that improve welfare outcomes for goats, especially rangeland goats, which are relevant to all sectors of the goat industry.

Future research

Guidelines developed through this project will require commercial trialling before there is confidence they will lead to improved animal welfare and increased meat production for rangeland (wild-caught) goats.

Further work on preparation of rangeland (wild) goats for live export should cease until effective measures are developed to combat coccidiosis and salmonella, or a way to screen them for internal parasites can be built into the process.