New conservation role for Mayo’s Old Irish Goats

MAYO's Old Irish Goats are set to play a lead role in a pilot conservation project in Galway and Clare.

The goats have already enjoyed significant success in a project at Howth Head, controlling vegetation as part of fire risk management. And they have also been deployed to tackle the invasive plant Gunnera Tinctoria (giant rhubarb) in Achill.

Now, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has published a report on proposed conservation grazing to manage scrub encroachment and other vegetation detrimental to the protected habitats within selected Special Areas of Conservation in counties Clare and Galway.

The proposed pilot conservation grazing project is a collaboration between the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Mulranny-based Old Irish Goat Society and the University of Galway.

The project will research and demonstrate the effectiveness of Old Irish Goats as a sustainable management tool for scrub and the control of invasive plant species, and its application for conservation grazing.

It is proposed that the project will take place over five years, running across 10 test sites within four SACs in Clare and Galway, which are all under the management of the NPWS.

The report explained how the primary objective of the project is to expand on works undertaken by Fingal County Council and the Old Irish Goats Society at Howth Head SAC and develop the application of Old Irish Goats as a potential option for conservation grazing and habitat management.

At Howth Head, Old Irish Goats were utilised at different locations to control vegetation and establish and maintain firebreaks as part of risk management.

This project will use goats with virtual fence collars to specifically control and manage encroaching scrub (Blackthorn, Whitethorn, Hazel and Gorse) and invasive species (namely Old Man’s Beard), but also look at the potential benefits of goats in conservation grazing/management.

This pilot project will survey up to 10 sites selected for browsing by goats, and using GPS collar units, monitor goat activity and time budgets. These units provide an up to date location of each animal and an activity monitor which allows comparison across groups of animals and between sites.

The Old Irish Goat dates back to Neolithic times and they have been the subject of a breeding programme in Mulranny.

They received a conservation boost two years ago when approved as a native rare breed, with a conservation status of ‘at risk’.