Found on Arapawa Island in New Zealand, this is one of the rarest goat breeds in the world. I saw an Instagram video on that and got curious. Here is their supposed origin:
In the 18th century, Captain James Cook released goats onto this island. His plan was to use them as a food source when stopping by during a voyage. DNA says that they originally came from South Africa, so he picked them up at some point. The goats flourished and bred successfully to spread across the island. It helped that they didn’t have any real predators aside from hunters who only killed enough to eat.
Fast forward to the 1970’s and the New Zealand government decided that the goats were destroying the natural environment. They began a culling, but Betty and Walt Rowe created a sanctuary in 1987 to prevent their extinction. This was accomplished by domesticating them. The population has risen from 150 in 2011 to 700 today, which means they are still critically endangered. It’s interesting how their near eradication was done in the name of nature conservation, but I guess nobody realized that they were a unique species.
I found two things that make the Arapawa goats unique:
- They are self-sufficient, which means they can thrive with minimal to no human interaction. Babies are very independent and can get annoyed if you try to help them a lot. Sounds like they’re born teenagers.
- They learned to eat seaweed and require iodine in their diet.
So, let’s look at some pics from Google and videos:
Legends of Windemere 
They are very handsome creatures, Charles. I’m glad someone had the good sense to save them.
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Me too.
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They are wonderful creatures. The babies are sure rambunctious. I had to laugh at the teenager comment.
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It’s fun just watching them. Goats in general are entertaining.
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I had two in a past life and they were wonderful.
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A park here was a flock of Pygmy goats who act as lawnmowers. They’re fun to bump into and watch. Long ago, my son was 3 or 4 when we ran into them. One of the babies hopped on a rock to try and eat my son’s hay-colored hair. Both had a blast chasing each other around.
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😀
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Teenagers- so funny! Goats are fun to watch, especially when they climb.
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Definitely.
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Amazing that they became a unique species just by being left alone.
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Isolation seems to do that a lot.
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