NZ goat cull 'failing to reduce population'

- Westport News

- APNZ

By Lee Scanlon

PUNAKAIK, New Zealand — A West Coast man who received a conservation award for killing hundreds of goats doubts whether his tally had any impact on the local population.

Tony Sole, 66, recently shot his 600th goat in the Paparoa National Park where they destroy the undergrowth and increase erosion.

"I don't think I really make a dent in them [the population]," he said. "Almost any nanny you shoot, she will either have kids with her or be pregnant or have kids and be pregnant.

"They're only eight to nine months old and having their first litter."

Mr Sole was among six West Coasters to receive awards from the Department of Conservation in Hokitika.

He has been shooting goats frequently since he and his partner moved from Wellington three years ago to Punakaiki, where they've had a holiday home for 15 years.

"If they were in harmony with the environment I wouldn't have started shooting them," Mr Sole said.

He has made regular trips into the bush, shooting up to 13 goats a time.

He shoots only nannies and kids because the billies spray themselves with musk and smell.

He removes the legs from the carcasses, keeps some for himself and gives the rest to friends and his cat, whose goat meat diet gave it "the shiniest coat on the West Coast".

Cooked in curries, goat tasted similar to lamb but was much leaner, he said.

West Coast conservator Mike Slater said Mr Sole's contribution to biodiversity was significant.