Dublin is taking a natural approach to protecting itself against wildfires.
They hired Old Irish Goats to graze the fields and keep them less flammable.
This ancient bearded breed of goats, which are near extinction, will be allowed to munch on the local vegetation in the north Dublin suburb of Howth and keep it nice and trim.
About 25 goats will be put on the job which conservationists hope will encourage the perseverance of the 5,000-year-old breed from extinction.
While the breed was ~250,00 strong in 1900, it was recently thought to be extinct.
However, some were later found scattered about on the western mountains of Mulranney.
Melissa Jeuken applied for the peculiar job position of a herder and beat out dozens of others who applied for the job.
She refers to her group of 25 goats and kids as a “hard-working crew.”
“They’re a very good crew to work with. We gelled very quickly. It just clicks,” Jeuken told The Guardian.
The local fire brigade and the Irish Air Corps recently had trouble with a 54-acre fire caused by overgrown vegetation that caught fire.
Fingal county decided to employ the goats after local wildfires started getting larger and more frequent over time.
“With climate change the risk of fires will go up,” Hans Visser, the council’s biodiversity officer, said.
The goats will be eating this vegetation to keep it short and help prevent fires since the longer vegetation is more prone to catching fire.
“We can either maintain this landscape with machinery or goats,” said Visser. “The goats will graze whatever comes back up and keep it nice and short.”
The goats involved in the project came from the Old Irish Goat Society’s five-acre sanctuary in Mulranney.
Their breeding program uses Old Irish goat DNA to ensure that the ancient goat breed is saved from extinction.
“Our goats come from the mountains and eat whatever’s there, scrub, heather, gorse. They’re the most suitable for this task,” Pádraic Browne, the Old Irish Goat Society’s chair, said.
These goats wear GPS tracker boxes which will disperse a shock if they cross an invisible fence.
While sheep can be driven forward, goats will only follow, so Jeuken has to walk ahead of them at all times. This is why gaining their trust is important.
“The trick is to be trusted by them and accepted by them, as one. Herding is a relationship between animal and man. You want to be operating as one,” Jeuken explains.
They can be pretty particular at times.
“They’re a bit sexist: they respond better to females than males,” she said.
But managing this herd comes naturally to Jeuken who communicates with them in their own bleating language.
She says the key to working with these animals is love and patience.
“Plenty of time, TLC and a few treats, you can’t go too far wrong with that,” Jeuken told Reuters.
You can learn more about these firefighting goats in the video below!
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