3 ms·

Judas goats were also used on the Galapagos where they were used to attract the invasive wild goats on the island out in the open where they could be killed. ht

Judas goats were also used on the Galapagos where they were used to attract the invasive wild goats on the island out in the open where they could be killed. https://modernfarmer.com/2013/09/killing-goats-galapagos/ https://modernfarmer.com/2013/09/killing-goats-galapagos/

prettyeyes83 4y ago
there's a nice podcast episode from radiolab about the goats on galapagos! https://radiolab.org/episodes/galapagos-2206 https://radiolab.org/episodes/galapagos-2206
- dexwiz 4y ago
  I remember listening to that and it really struck me how much a single species could change an environment. I wonder how many ecosystems we praise as natural are actually warped by human introduction of species in the last few thousand millennia.
  - PicassoCTs 4y ago
    The whole desertification of the middle east can be blamed on goat herding of nomadic farmers.
    - diordiderot 4y ago
      I've heard that before. Are there any good books/ papers on the topic?
      - PicassoCTs 4y ago
        https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316721412_Blame_it_on_the_goats_Desertification_in_the_Near_East_during_the_Holocene https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316721412_Blame_it_... https://epar.evans.uw.edu/research/environmental-implications-livestock-goats https://epar.evans.uw.edu/research/environmental-implication... Its inconclusive on the goats. but the overall appearing cities and nomadic lifestyle selling whool to cities might have amplified the whole situation. Todays nomads definitely amplify the situation
        diordiderot 4y ago
        Very cool. Thank you
        PicassoCTs 4y ago
        This is also not limited to the middle east. A surprising lots of bioms are not resistant to animal grazing and collapse/become smaller when "attacked" with it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_sheep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_sheep https://www.climatechangepost.com/iceland/desertification/ https://www.climatechangepost.com/iceland/desertification/
  - myshpa 4y ago
    In "Fall of civilizations" series [0] there is somewhere a mention of caravans thousands of camels long, thousands years ago, going through north africa. Imagining this one has to wonder how populous their goat herds were in that time and how much their grazing helped to degrade the pre-sahara/sahel ecosystems. Maybe we should try to reforest those areas again. [0] https://www.youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast/playlists https://www.youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast/playlis... - highly recommended
EdwardDiego 4y ago
New Zealand pioneered this with goats painted bright pink. Our conservation workers helped out in the Galapagos. These days they use radio collars to achieve the same. But it's not so much about attracting other goats out in the open, it's using the desire of the Judas goat to be with other goats to make it easy to locate herds. I've always felt a bit sorry for the Judas goat, all their new friends keep dying.

prettyeyes83 4y ago

there's a nice podcast episode from radiolab about the goats on galapagos! https://radiolab.org/episodes/galapagos-2206 https://radiolab.org/episodes/galapagos-2206

dexwiz 4y ago
I remember listening to that and it really struck me how much a single species could change an environment. I wonder how many ecosystems we praise as natural are actually warped by human introduction of species in the last few thousand millennia.
- PicassoCTs 4y ago
  The whole desertification of the middle east can be blamed on goat herding of nomadic farmers.
  - diordiderot 4y ago
    I've heard that before. Are there any good books/ papers on the topic?
    - PicassoCTs 4y ago
      https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316721412_Blame_it_on_the_goats_Desertification_in_the_Near_East_during_the_Holocene https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316721412_Blame_it_... https://epar.evans.uw.edu/research/environmental-implications-livestock-goats https://epar.evans.uw.edu/research/environmental-implication... Its inconclusive on the goats. but the overall appearing cities and nomadic lifestyle selling whool to cities might have amplified the whole situation. Todays nomads definitely amplify the situation
      - diordiderot 4y ago
        Very cool. Thank you
        PicassoCTs 4y ago
        This is also not limited to the middle east. A surprising lots of bioms are not resistant to animal grazing and collapse/become smaller when "attacked" with it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_sheep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_sheep https://www.climatechangepost.com/iceland/desertification/ https://www.climatechangepost.com/iceland/desertification/
- myshpa 4y ago
  In "Fall of civilizations" series [0] there is somewhere a mention of caravans thousands of camels long, thousands years ago, going through north africa. Imagining this one has to wonder how populous their goat herds were in that time and how much their grazing helped to degrade the pre-sahara/sahel ecosystems. Maybe we should try to reforest those areas again. [0] https://www.youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast/playlists https://www.youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast/playlis... - highly recommended

EdwardDiego 4y ago

New Zealand pioneered this with goats painted bright pink. Our conservation workers helped out in the Galapagos. These days they use radio collars to achieve the same. But it's not so much about attracting other goats out in the open, it's using the desire of the Judas goat to be with other goats to make it easy to locate herds. I've always felt a bit sorry for the Judas goat, all their new friends keep dying.