Wild Goats
The Langholm Initiative is aware that the announcement last week by Oxygen Conservation to cull the goats on the land they own has caused a lot of upset within the local communities of Langholm, Newcastleton and further afield.
It is important to note that Tarras Valley are NOT taking part in the goat cull.
We have been approached with a great deal of questions, some of them we can answer and some we cannot as we don’t have access to any further information other than what has been made public within the recent announcement of Oxygen’s plans. We hope the information below is helpful in setting down some of the facts as we understand them:
– Oxygen landholding is NOT part of the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, they are a separate private company that own the land on the Scottish Borders side of the moorland called Blackburn and Hartsgarth. These are two separate landholdings.
– We cannot stop another landowner from doing a cull on their own land. They do not have any rights to shoot on anyone else’s land.
– Wild goats have roamed over the 30,000+ acres of Langholm Moor (which includes the 10,500 acres of Tarras Valley) and the wider landscape reaching as far as Hermitage Valley and beyond for many years. Their origins are unknown and there are several different theories about where they originated from.
– We are aware the local goat populations have been historically managed across the area. We have very little information on the overall goat numbers across the area as they are a transient population, and they move so widely across many different land holdings.
– The goats roam freely across the landscape and multiple landholdings, they are not owned by anyone. However, we understand that they have the same protection as livestock under the Animal Health and Welfare act Scotland 2006.
– The focus of the Langholm Initiative is to work together with the local community to get more understanding and information about the local goat population and the role they play in our landscape.
In the meantime, on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, we please ask that people give the goats their space as they are currently with young and sensitive to disturbance.