ITALIAN ISLAND OVERRUN BY GOATS
Mayor Riccardo Gullo begging people to catch and take them away
This Italian island is overrun by so many goats that locals are begging people to sail away with as many as they can catch.
Alicudi is the least inhabited — when you’re counting people, that is — of the seven Aeolian islands floating off the northern coast of Sicily.
It is home to about 100 residents and about 600 wild goats, according to CNN.
Since local authorities have been unable to manage the growing goat population, Mayor Riccardo Gullo has announced an “adopt-a-goat” programme, which will allow people who make an official request to take up to 50 goats.
All you need is a boat to take them away.
Not a baaahd deal, right?
The animals were introduced to the island around 20 years ago by a farmer who set them free, and since then they have reproduced at an alarming rate and taken over the town.
Herds of goats have since encroached on residential areas, invaded homes, devoured the local flora and crumbled stone walls.
Applicants must email their request to the local authority by April 10 and pay around $17 for a stamp fee to make it official.
The giveaway will continue until the native herd is reduced to a manageable herd — ideally about 100 — but a few will be left to pose for tourists.
Those chosen will have 15 days to catch and remove the goats from the island.
“We have heard from dozens of people since we first announced this,” Gullo told CNN, including a farmer from the nearby island of Vulcano, who produces goat cheese. However, he hopes goat burgers will not be on takers’ menus. “Ideally, we would like to see people try to domesticate the animals rather than eat them.”