At Waipu, the northern part of
the North Island, New Zealand, there is a small flock of feral goats, probably
the remnants of Angoras farmed in the area since the late nineteenth century.
It is believed that there are now very few left in the bush area to which they
were originally confined, the main population currently being held by a member
of the Rare Breeds Conservation Society.
These may be all the Waipu
goats now remaining. It is also possible that this small population is among
the purest original Angora stock left anywhere in the world, as most of the
Angoras of today have been crossbred to some degree to obtain commercial
animals with hybrid vigour.
In 2002 it was thought that
there were only seventeen Waipu goats in existence – by mid 2005 this number had
fallen to six, including only one buck. Since then more have been found in the
wild, and the Rare Breeds Conservation Society is currently working in
conjunction with the current owner to try to establish satellite herds.
Content and Photo
Source: New Zealand rare Breeds (
www.rarebreeds.co.nz)