The feral goats of Kielderhead Moor

Abstract

Herds of feral goats are present along the high ground of the Scottish Borders at the College, Hindhope, Kielderhead Moor (the study area), Bewcastle Fell and Roan Fell.In the study area the nannies remained solitary, or in the company of their yearlings on the steep ground below the high moor throughout the winter. After the birth of their kids in March two female herds were formed each with a herd billy which came from the two male herds which were present through the winter on the high moor. The male herds left the study area in the spring and their ranges are not known. The two female herds maintained separate ranges on the high moor until the end of August when they combined into one large herd and were joined by a strange herd of billies which had not previously been seen.After the first three or four days of its life the kid is left in a hiding place for most of the day whilst its mother ranges widely grazing with the herd. The kids join the herd when they are about six weeks old.The Kielderhead Moor goats had a recruitment rate of 0–29/nanny/year and the females have a further expectation of life of 3–7 years. Figures for the billies are unreliable as disappearances of males from the moor are more likely to be the result of emigration than of deaths. While the herds of nannies have fairly restricted home ranges there is some evidence to suggest that many of the billies wander freely along the Borders.In the early part of the summer the sheep and goats are eating very similar proportions of the plants present on the moor. Later on in the season there is a divergence with the sheep eating less Calluna while the goats eat less Eriophorum, but as the Trichophorum becomes available both animals include this in their diet.

Population changes and the distribution of a herd of feral goats (Capra sp.) on Rhum, Inner Hebride, 1960–78

“…The result of this differential survival of the sexes is that the sex ratio of successive age classes changes continuously accounting for the observed difference between the adult and kid sex ratios. Sex ratios similar to that found in this study have also been found in other feral goat populations (Williams & Rudge, 1969;Greig, 1969;McDougall, 1975). On Aldabra, Gould (1979) has found a sex ratio biased towards males and Yocom (1967) found it to approach equality in Hawaii.…”

“…The male-female range overlap, relative to the total range sizes, is small and this suggests a degree of spacial resource partitioning. Such a separation of males and females is well recognised in other herds of feral goats (Caughley, 1966;Greig, 1969;McDougall, 1975;Stevenson-Jones, 1977) and sheep (Jewell et al, 1974). The association of younger males with female groups is also a common characteristic.…”

“…Greig (1969) surveyed the Scottish feral goats providing some basic population information. Whitehead (1972) added to this, but only studies on populations in Northumberland (McDougall, 1975 andStevenson-Jones, 1977) and on Lundy Island (Munton, 1975) have supplemented this information. Buckland (1977) censused the feral goats on Rhum and a project is presently being carried out on the goats of Galloway (Bullock, pers.…”

Contact Calls Facilitate Group Contraction in Free-Ranging Goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)

“…All group members were lactating during the study and had young offspring which remained in the pen while the herd grazed. This practice, which predated the study, was for the protection of the young and is similar to the infant caching behavior displayed by feral goats (McDougall, 2009). The goats had free access to their offspring while in the pen.…”

Mother goats do not forget their kids’ calls

“…Goats adopt a hider strategy for predator avoidance: during the first weeks of life, goat kids remain hidden most of the time in vegetation, alone or with their sibling(s), in order to avoid detection by predators. At five weeks old, however, goat kids would normally have integrated into social groups [17].…”