Goat News: March/April 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutes
In “Goat News” we share goat stories of the current, odd, fun, and important. If there are stories that you’d like us to cover or want to share with us, please email: goatjournal@gmail.com.
Goats (and Fire Trucks) Help San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Control Wildfires in California
About an hour east of Los Angeles, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians have been using goats to control wildfire fuel since 2019. The Tribe’s own San Manuel Fire Department has a herd of 400 goats that consume grasses and scrub brush on the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Reservation and nearby properties in San Bernardino.
According to the Tribe’s press release, “The goats are a natural way of ensuring the safety of the reservation and the greater community from wildfire, and an environmentally friendly extension of the Tribe’s culture of lands stewardship practiced by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.”
In early 2024, wildfire stopped spreading once it reached an area cleared by the Tribe’s goats, proving them to be effective. The goats will spend spring through fall browsing on approximately 1,000 acres. In the winter, they’re housed at a nearby farm. The brush, which acts as wildfire fuel, was particularly thick this year due to last season’s unusual rainfall.
“The act of stewardship and caring for the land is a sacred duty of the Tribe,” says Chairwoman Lynn Valbuena. “Stewardship is a responsibility given to our people by the Creator. No matter who owns the land.”
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Fire Department was established in 2003 and currently has over 60 full-time employees and two fire stations.
In 2019, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Los Angeles hired several hundred goats from 805 Goats to graze 13 acres of the grass around the library to help prevent wildfires.
“We were told by one of the firefighters that they believe that fire break made their job easier,” Melissa Giller, a library spokeswoman, told Reuters.
Goats Take Over Prediction Duties on Groundhog Day
The results are in and the Nigerian dwarf goats at the Milwaukee County Zoo did not see their shadow, meaning it will be an early spring! You can’t argue with that kind of science. The zoo’s goats had the honor of handling the duties for the 2025 annual Groundhog Day weather prediction on Sunday, February. 2, at 9 a.m. The ceremony, for media only, was hosted by zoo Executive Director, Amos Morris, and took place at the Northwestern Mutual Family Farm Goat Yard prior to the zoo’s public opening.
The goats ran into their yard to make their prediction. Last year, the zoo’s Humboldt penguins were in the spotlight, but they’re still getting acclimated to their recently renovated Penguins of the Pacific Habitat, which opened in December 2024. So, the goats were happy to take on the responsibility of forecasting the Milwaukee weather this year.
You can watch the exciting recap on their Facebook page.
Potential Candidate Genes Associated With Litter Size in Goats
Researchers in China are looking at genetic markers that may help goat breeders increase their litter size. Litter size is influenced by multiple genes and environmental factors. The number of offspring directly affects farm profitability and sustainability. Although this study identified multiple genes responsible for an increased litter size, researchers are still unsure of how these genes are expressed and at what magnitude they are passed down from parent to offspring. Once identified, this knowledge could be very beneficial for goat breeders.
To read the full study published in Animals, visit https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Articles/PMC11718837/#sec5-Animals-15-00082
Impact of Drinking Water Temperature and Mineral Supplementation on the Performance of Pregnant Ewes
The study was conducted at the Mountain Research Centre for Sheep and Goat (MRCSG) Shuhama, Kashmir, India, with the objective of observing the impact of watering temperature and mineral supplementation on the performance of pregnant ewes during winter, which is a critical period for the sheep industry in Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 40 pregnant Corriedale ewes, aged from 3 to 5 years, in their last trimester of gestation, were studied. The paper was published in the journal Discover Animals.
The lead researcher, Nazish Rizwan, says, “The study highlights how drinking water temperature and mineral supplementation significantly impact the physiological and behavioral responses of pregnant ewes, ultimately shaping their well-being and productivity.” She adds, “These findings are particularly relevant for small ruminant farmers seeking to optimize animal comfort and performance, especially in regions with extreme cold climatic conditions. While the study focused on ewes, similar principles can be applied to domestic pregnant goats, as both species share comparable metabolic and thermoregulatory mechanisms. However, species-specific variations in mineral metabolism and water intake behavior should be considered for precise recommendations.”
To read the full study, visit Springer Nature Link
Fatal Interactions: Pneumonia in Bighorn Lambs Following Experimental Exposure to Carriers of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae
Recently Goat Journal published an article titled “Pack Goat Forest Closures”. The president of the North American Packgoat Association (NAPgA) stated that it was unfair to do a blanket banning of goats since it’s understood that the sheep strain of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae negatively impacts the wild bighorn sheep, not the goat strain.
In the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Tom Besser et al. studied the hypothesis that bighorn sheep ewes with chronic nasal M. ovipneumoniae carriage are the source of infection that results in fatal lamb pneumonia. They tested this hypothesis in captive bighorn ewes at two study facilities over a five-year period.
Besser tells Goat Journal, “All the carrier ewes in the study were infected with domestic sheep strains of M. ovipneumoniae and, while we know that domestic goat strains of this pathogen have triggered some pneumonia outbreaks in wild bighorn sheep, to my knowledge, chronic carriage of goat strains by bighorn sheep has not yet been studied.”
To read the full study, visit: https://Journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.01328-24
KENNY COOGAN lives on a permaculture landscape and runs a carnivorous plant nursery. His educational TV series “Florida’s Flora and Fauna with Conservationist Kenny Coogan” will come out summer of 2025. Listen to him co-host the “Mother Earth News and Friends” podcast at www.MotherEarthNews.com/podcast.
Published in the March 1, 2025 digital edition of Goat Journal
