Feral goats to be culled in park

The goats will be shot by a professional marksman

More than 100 wild goats will be culled in the Snowdonia National Park after being blamed for causing damage to gardens.

A multi-agency goat committee met in Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd, on Thursday to discuss ways of thinning the herd.

The cull will take place in the autumn when the animals will be shot by a professional marksman.

It will take place around Harlech. But the committee said there were no plans to eradicate the population completely.

According to David Archer from the Snowdonia National Park there are an estimated 500 goats in the Harlech area where the cull will take place.

"There has been a 50% increase in the last year," he said. "We're suffering a population explosion... and the numbers have to be controlled."

Conservationists

However, there will not be a cull this year in the Nant Gwynant and Beddgelert area, where local people have complained about the damage done by the animals.

Charing the meeting on Thursday, Caerwyn Roberts said: "Something has to be done. The population has exploded.

"In the Rhinogydd area above Harlech, they're doing untold damage."

The goat population there will be monitored for the next 12 months before a decision is taken whether a cull needs to be carried out.

The meeting was called by the Countryside Council for Wales in partnership with the Snowdonia National Park Authority and the National Trust.

Farmers are worried by the effects on their business and local residents by the impact on their gardens and the danger the goats pose on the roads.

Local conservationists are concerned by their damaging effects on woodlands.