Scottish Primitive Goats on the Borders of Life and Death
Updated: 2 days ago
By Tom Benny
Image 1 - With kind permission from The Wild Goat Conversation Trust
On the Scottish Borders, a herd of British primitive goats roam the open moorland of Langholm and Newcastleton Hills. These animals, scattered across rolling green landscapes, bounded by horizons, are unique. They have been in the area for centuries; descendants of an ancient primitive goat herd and synonymous with the moors they graze, in nature and name.
The future for these goats is currently in question. In 2023, Oxygen Conservation Ltd, a rewilding company that acquires land to protect and restore natural processes, bought Blackburn & Hartsgarth, 11,366 acres of Langholm Moor. (1)
The conservation business began a cull of the animals in early 2025, arguing there was a “massive increase” in the goats’ population and that numbers needed to be reduced, otherwise newly planted trees would be grazed by the animals. (2)
Public Opposition and the Failed Protection Petition
Following local outcry, the cull of the goats by Oxygen Conservation Ltd was paused. Kenneth Erik Moffat published a petition on 25th March 2025, in an effort to achieve protected species status for the goats to prevent future culling. (3)
However, in September 2025, Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, community landowners of 10,500 acres of the Tarras Valley and Langholm Moor, have continued to cull the animals in autumn shootings to curb their population by 20%. They argue the goats have become overabundant. (4)
The petition was rejected by the Scottish Parliament’s Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee in February 2026, despite garnering 22,044 signatures. (5)
During the petition’s consideration, Committee Convener Jackson Carlaw MSP said the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the UK’s statutory adviser on nature conservation, argued feral goats are understood to be non-native to the UK and ineligible for protected species status.
Mr Carlaw said: “The JNCC further notes that it would be difficult to define and enforce protection for British primitive goats as distinct from more modern variants because they are taxonomically the same species, and there is no commonly accepted subspecies status for feral populations.
“Submissions from the Wild Goat Conservation Trust and the petitioner argue that the Langholm and Newcastleton goat is a distinctive type. We understand that there is some academic interest in studying its DNA, though not necessarily the funding available to undertake this.”
The consideration of the petition lasted just six minutes. The only committee member to speak up was Maurice Golden MSP, who said: “Ultimately, the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee decided that the precious little animals required no additional protection. That, along with the Scottish Government's view that it has no plans to provide full legal protected status for feral goats, means that we do not have a choice other than to, unfortunately, close the petition down.” (6)
Image 2 - With kind permission from The Wild Goat Conversation Trust
Previously, Rachel Hamilton MSP had attempted to introduce amendments granting the goats protected species status to Stage 2 of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill before the protection petition was considered. These amendments were knocked back by the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee in November 2025.
Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, said: “Providing the goats with the increased protections that are set out in the amendments would conflict with Scotland’s biodiversity strategy, and legal protection could prevent the necessary population management, leading to overgrazing and to damage to sensitive upland ecosystems.”
Ms Martin also argued that granting the goats protected species status “might create pressure to protect other introduced species… that could weaken Scotland’s invasive species management framework.” (7)
Jackson Carlaw acknowledged that the rejection of Mr Moffat’s protection petition would not satisfy locals. He went as far as to call NatureScot, the government agency responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, “a dead sheep with its legs up in the air,” and the overall situation “depressing”. (8)
Jackson Carlaw MSP likened NatureScot
to "a dead sheep with
its legs up in the air."
The prevailing tone of the meeting gave an impression of the committee’s hands being tied due to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee’s decision regarding Rachel Hamilton MSP’s amendments to the Natural Environment (Scotland) bill. Little more than an excuse to throw their hands up in the air and quickly forsake the goats.
David Braithwaite, chair of The Wild Goat Conservation Trust (TWGCT), told Verify Humanity: “To discover that there were no deliberations, no debate of the written submissions, no cognisance of the 22,044 signatures on the petition, no consideration of other options was, quite frankly, an insult to everyone.
Image 3 - With kind permission from The Wild Goat Conversation Trust
“After almost a year of my Trustees ceaselessly and patiently explaining the issues to the public, this treatment of the petition hearing was contemptuous. To say we were disappointed would be a hopeless understatement.”
"treatment of the petition
was contemptuous."
Oxygen Conservation told Verify Humanity: “We do not wish to comment on the decision of the Scottish Parliament and we will continue to act in accordance with government guidance.”
We also tried getting in contact with Tarras Valley Nature Reserve on two occasions. There has so far been no response.
Since the petition’s rejection, Oxygen Conservation’s and Tarras Valley Nature Reserve’s culls will undoubtedly continue. As an organisation that champions animal wellbeing and strives for compassionate conservation, Verify Humanity vehemently opposes culling. It is a violent, callous ‘solution’. A bloody quick-fix and a soft word for mass slaughter so that stomachs don’t turn when it hits headlines.
Verify Humanity’s founder, Kate Fox, said: “It is tragic to see conservationists managing ecosystems for human targets, and not the animals that rely on them. In my opinion, this is rather missing the point of conservation.”
Immunocontraception: A Humane Alternative to Culling
Culling does not have to be the solution to the goats' impact on the environment or their growing population.
Immunocontraception is a method which can be used to reduce goat numbers by administering vaccines to make the animals temporarily infertile.
Image 4 - With kind permission from The Wild Goat Conversation Trust
Tarras Valley Nature Reserve argues that “the effects of human contraceptives being excreted into the environment causing harm to wildlife are well known. We expect the same risk applies to animal contraceptives.” (9)
However, there is an immunocontraceptive vaccine that does not carry this risk: Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH). GnRH stimulates an animal’s immune system to create antibodies in response to the vaccine, which results in decreased concentrations of sex hormones, inhibiting reproduction in both sexes (Massei, 2023).
GonaCon is a GnRH vaccine with a significant amount of academic study behind it. In the USA, it’s been used as a contraceptive on various animals including deer, feral horses, bison, and prairie dogs (Massei, 2023). In the UK, GonaCon has been tested on badgers, wild boar, grey squirrels, and most importantly, goats (Cowan, et al: 2019).
In the UK, GonaCon has
been tested on badgers,
wild boar, grey squirrels,
and goats.
A population of ‘Kashmiri’ goats, present on the Great Orme in Llandudno, North Wales, for over 100 years, had the potential to grow overabundant in the 2000s (Cowan, et al: 2019). Fortunately, culling of the herd was not publicly accepted following a petition (10), and GonaCon was implemented in 2009 to stabilise the population at around 120 animals (Cowan, et al: 2019). This target was reached by 2017, as the vaccine was found to significantly reduce breeding success in the female goats for two years (Cowan, et al: 2019). (11)
The use of GonaCon presents a compassionate alternative to culling, which is proven to effectively manage goat populations. However, the method does have some limitations. The goats would need to be captured or darted to administer the vaccine, which can be a logistically difficult process. The population will also be reduced slowly, with long-term monitoring necessary as the sterilisation is temporary. All of this can be costly. It is also important to mention that GonaCon is not vegan, as it is derived from marine molluscs (Massei, 2023). (12)
Alternatives to Immunocontraception
Image 5 - With kind permission from The Wild Goat Conversation Trust
There are a couple of feasible alternatives to GonaCon too, which are relocation and fencing.
Relocation involves moving goats somewhere else, such as conservation areas. 30 of the Great Orme goats were relocated to conservation grazing projects in Bristol and Bournemouth in 2021 to control numbers after they began to creep up during the pandemic. 19 female goats that were given GonaCon remained in Llandudno (13). This strategy can be stressful for the animals and is expensive. It can also facilitate disease transfer.
Fencing is quite self-explanatory. It involves using physical barriers to prevent the goats from entering sensitive areas and restrict their dispersal into the wild. This requires a high initial cost and regular maintenance. This is a weaker option; goats can be quite destructive and like to roam over large distances, which fencing can obviously restrict significantly.
Chair of The Wild Goat Conservation Trust (TWGCT) David Braithwaite told Verify Humanity: “Fencing is the most problematic for TWGCT as, in principle, we wish to see this ancient herd have free range over the 47 square miles of moorland that it has had the freedom to do for centuries; why now should they be penned in simply because new landowners have come along?”
What Happens Next for the Goats?
Since the petition to grant protected species status to the Langholm and Newcastleton Goats was knocked back, they remain under threat of eradication.
TWGCT has drafted a new petition calling for a closed season for wild goat shooting to be implemented and for high-impact culling to be regulated.
Chair of TWGCT David Braithwaite said in a press release: “We acknowledge that some goat populations provide land managers with certain challenges, but equally they can contribute to a healthy ecology.
“It is now time that these poor and historically persecuted animals are recognised as requiring the welfare standards that are granted to deer.”
TWGCT has clearly been forced to compromise, but we must strive for a humane outcome for these goats. Culling should be entirely out of the question. Compassionate conservation methods must be explored instead of pursuing a close season that restricts culling. Otherwise, it’s gone from trying to make these goats a protected species to letting their slaughter continue as long as it's during certain times of the year.
Image 6 - With kind permission from The Wild Goat Conversation Trust
The goats have been present in this area for centuries, and likely have Neolithic roots. It is safe to say that they have become fully naturalised to the hills of Langholm and Newcastleton, and they are undoubtedly deeply loved by the local community. The petition calling for their protection, garnering 22,044 signatures, was a colossal demonstration of support, and should have been taken more seriously. Instead, it was quickly cast aside, and the goats were forsaken by the Scottish Government.
Their cousins on the Great Orme in North Wales were spared from culling following a petition decades ago, resulting in the implementation of the immunocontraceptive GonaCon to limit their numbers (14). This has proven to be highly effective alongside occasional relocation, without the need for mass slaughter to control their numbers.
GonaCon offers a proven viable alternative to culling. Although it is logistically and fiscally more demanding, it’s a compassionate alternative which does not involve mass slaughter. It’s an option that has the potential to satisfy all parties involved by reducing goat numbers while simultaneously preserving them. This option should be pursued instead of culling in close seasons.
Sources
[1] Oxygen Conservation Ltd (accessed July 2026)Blackburn and Hartsgarth - https://www.oxygenconservation.com/portfolio/blackburn-hartsgarth/
[2] BBC News (April 2025) Call to protect ancient goats from moorland cull.
[3] The Scottish Parliament (March 2025) PE2151: Grant protected status to primitive goat species in the Scottish Borders - Petition Summary. https://www.parliament.scot/get-involved/petitions/view-petitions/pe2151-grant-protected-status-to-primitive-goat-species-in-the-scottish-borders
[4] Tarras Valley Nature Reseerve (accessed July 2026) Updated statement on feral goats. https://www.tarrasvalleynaturereserve.org/feral-goats/
[5] The Scottish Parliament (Feb 2026) Closed Petition - PE2151: Grant protected status to primitive goat species in the Scottish Borders
[6] The Scottish Parliament (Feb 2026) Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. https://www.parliament.scot/api/sitecore/CustomMedia/OfficialReport?meetingId=20081
[7] The Scottish Parliament (Accessed July 2026) Natural Environment Scotland Bill https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/legislation/bills/s6-bills/natural-environment-scotland-bill/stage-2/spbill59mls062025revised.pdf
[8] The Scottish Parliament (Feb 2026) Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. https://www.parliament.scot/api/sitecore/CustomMedia/OfficialReport?meetingId=20081
[9] Tarras Valley Nature Reserve (Sep 2025) FAQs https://www.tarrasvalleynaturereserve.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Feral-Goats-FAQs.pdf
[10] Llandudno (Mar 2020) Llandudno Goats – The Great Orme
[11] Cowan et al (Jan 2020) Adaptive management of an iconic invasive goat Capra hircus population
[12] Massei, G. Fertility Control for Wildlife: A European Perspective. Animals 2023, 13, 428. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13030428 Fertility Control for Wildlife: A European Perspective
[13] BBC News (July 2021) Llandudno goats sent to Bristol and Bournemouth to control numbers
[14] Llandudno.com Llandudno Goats – The Great Orme https://www.llandudno.com/the-great-orme-kashmiri-goats/
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