The tiny Caribbean island of Terre-de-Haut boasts pristine turquoise waters and deserted coves. It also has goats, hundreds of them.
There are as many goats as humans on the island and, while they charm the tourists as they roam on the beaches and graze in the gardens, there is a darker side to this uncontrolled feral herd.
They ravage protected areas, munch through vegetation and destroy the habitats of other animals — some of which are endangered and endemic to Terre-de-Haut and other islands in Les Saintes archipelago.
Photo: AFP
Officials on the island chain, which is part of the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, are now considering drastic action.
The animals could be shunted into designated grazing areas then, after health checks are carried out, they could be used for meat.
Marie Robert of the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), a government body, said the situation was alarming.
“On Terre-de-Haut alone, the herd is estimated at least one goat per inhabitant, or about 1,500,” she said.
“They overconsume native plants, leaving all the space to more resilient invasive exotic species.”
SPECIES AT RISK
At Le Chameau, the highest point on Terre-de-Haut, the vegetation is devastated — trees stripped bare and branches gnawed away.
Robert said the destruction wrought by the goats raised the risk of landslides and threatened animal biodiversity.
Several endemic species are particularly at risk, including the Terre-de-Haut racer snake, the Guadeloupe skink and a tiny brightly colored gecko called Les Saintes Sphaerodactylus.
It’s feared that these species, already weakened by rats and stray dogs and cats, could disappear entirely.
The OFB is tapping the EU’s fund for environmental projects, the LIFE program.
It has an estimated budget of 10 million euros (NT$368 million) to protect reptiles in Guadeloupe and the nearby islands of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy, which face similar pressures.
“It involves eradicating species like rats, but also bringing goats under control,” said Philippe De Proft, a coastal warden in Les Saintes for nearly 20 years.
A NEW SCOURGE
The goats were brought over by humans and were used for many years as the only local source of meat.
But tourism has long since displaced livestock farming as a way of life.
The goats, however, have not stopped reproducing — a female can give birth to two or three kids several times a year.
The authorities are looking to Saint-Barthelemy for inspiration.
Goats are already being captured there and confined to grazing areas.
Officials have given an exemption from the usual rules to allow the animals to be used for meat.
“Even wild adults can be put to good use,” explained Rudi Laplace, whose Island Nature Experience group organized the capture on Saint-Barthelemy.
Officials on Les Saintes are keen to follow the example, and they cannot act quickly enough as a new scourge could be on the way.
Sheep abandoned by a farmer are beginning to proliferate — from a single pair, the flock has now grown to 25 animals.
After Jurassic Park premiered in 1993, people began to ask if scientists could really bring long-lost species back from extinction, just like in the hit movie. The idea has triggered “de-extinction” debates in several countries, including Taiwan, where the focus has been on the Formosan clouded leopard (designated after 1917 as Neofelis nebulosa brachyura). National Taiwan Museum’s (NTM) Web site describes the Formosan clouded leopard as “a subspecies endemic to Taiwan…it reaches a body length of 0.6m to 1.2m and tail length of 0.7m to 0.9m and weighs between 15kg and 30kg. It is entirely covered with beautiful cloud-like spots
Just after 6am, I walked up to the ticket gate at Taipei Main Station and entered the Taiwan Railway platform without scanning any ticket; instead, I flashed the Sanrio Fun Rail pass on my phone to the gate worker and was admitted. I found my train and prepared to board. My destination? This very same station. I was embarking on a 13-hour journey on one of two round-the-island trains operated by ezTravel. They run each day, one counterclockwise around the island and one clockwise. They differ in a number of ways from an ordinary Taiwan Railway train and can make for
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the
On Thursday, former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Seven others related to the case were also handed prison sentences, while two were found not guilty. It has been a bad week for the TPP. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) with suspicion of taking part in Beijing-directed election interference. Xu has strong links to the TPP, which once offered her a party list legislator nomination. Tuesday also
RSS