Story: Goats and goat farming Page 1 – History and overview
Goats (Capra hircus) have been domesticated for at least 9,000
years. Multi-purpose animals which can supply meat, milk and
fibre, goats have been an essential part of communities through
the ages. Even today more people worldwide drink milk and eat
meat from goats than from any other animal. More than 80% of the
world’s goats live in Asia and Africa as domesticated or feral
animals. Goats originate in warm, dry Mediterranean and western
Asian countries. They are ruminants (animals with a rumen, where
microbes digest eaten plant material, instead of a simple
stomach), have a voracious appetite, and will eat a wide range
of plants. Historically they have been blamed for the creation
of some of the world’s major deserts. For example, goats were
introduced to the forested island of St Helena in 1513. By 1815
the island had become a barren, rocky waste. There are over 100
main breeds of goat worldwide, bred for milk, fibre or meat.
Although easily domest