Rangel. J.

21(1) 1999, 71-81

MOVEMENT PATTERNS OF FERAL GOATS IN A SEMI-ARID WOODLAND

IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA.

David Freudenberger a n d J o h n B a r b e r

CSlRO Wildlife and Ecology, GPO Box 284, Canberra, Australia 2601

Abstract

The movement patterns of ten feral goats fitted with radio transmitters were examined over a 20 month
period in a semi-arid woodland of western New South Wales. The mean distance between locations
(fixes) was 3.1 km at 42 day intervals. The mean interfix distance for male goats was 1.1 km greater than
for females. The mean home range for the five males was 29.4 km2 and 10.9 km2 for the five females
(95% convex polygon). The movement patterns of feral goats in this woodland system were predictable.
Goats usually moved small distances and remained close to intermittent lakes and creeks with abundant
tree and shrub cover. Goats commercially harvested in this area were likely to have come from local
populations living in an area of 15-35 km2, an area encompassed by 1-2 paddocks on a single property.

Introduction

The feral goat (Capra hircus) has spread to all states and territories of Australia except the
Northern Territory. Total numbers are estimated to be about 2.6 million with the main
concentrations in western New South Wales, southern Queensland, central eastern South
Australia and Western Australia (Parkes et al. 1996). Densities of feral goats can be quite high,
representing a significant proportion of total grazing pressure. For example, Landsberg and
Stol (1996) estimated that the density o f goats (24/km2) was higher than that of sheep (21/km2)
in a semi-arid woodlands in New South Wales during 1991193. These high densities of goats,
in addition to sheep, native kangaroos and European rabbits, can lead to significant
overgrazing and loss of landscape productivity and functionality (Freudenberger et al. 1997).

Management of feral goats is more difficult than for domestic livestock, as goats move freely
through traditional fencing consisting of strained wires. At least four to five electrified wires or
wire netting, preferably with an electrified outrigger, are required to effectively contain feral
goats (Yerex 1986). Many pastoralists believe that goats move freely over long distances and
that the goat problem is due to them moving in from other areas, often hundreds of kilometres
away (Holt and Pickles 1996). There is a tendency to think that management of feral goats is
some one else's problem, or is intractable, because goat removal on a single property will have
limited impact. These perceptions have only been tested in Western Australia where it was
found that goat movements were localised and no migratory movements took place (King
1992, Holt and Pickles 1996). Whether this applies to feral goat populations in eastern
Australia is not known.

The purpose of this study was to describe the movement patterns o f feral goats in a semi-arid
woodland in eastern Australia in order to determine the management scale necessary for feral
goats. The essential questions were: who owns the goat problem? Do goats roam over many
pastoral properties, or are their movements restricted to one or two pastoral properties? Do
goats use particular habitats and avoid others? Answers to these questions may help focus the
scale and location at which management strategies and tactics need to be implemented.

This study was preliminary in nature. N o previous studies have reported the number of
locations (fixes) needed to accurately define home range or core areas. W e did not know
whether 10 fixes or 100 fixes over one year, or five years o f observations were needed to
define a realistic home range for goats. This study was terminated after 2 0 months due to
limited resources.
D. Freudenberger and J . Barber

Methods

Study location

Goat movements were studied in a 600 km2 area of highly heterogeneous semi-arid woodlands,
150 km west of Bourke, NSW (Fig. 1). Approximately half of the area comprised the
Landsdowne land system characterised by undulating stony ridges with well defined dendritic
drainages and small ephemeral lakes (Soil Conservation Service 1983). Scattered to
moderately dense groves of mulga (Acacia aneura) and poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea)
were the dominate overstorey, with an understorey of woody shrubs such as hopbush
(Dodonea viscosa) and turpentine (Eremophila mitchelliana). Ground cover was variable and
consisted of perennial grasses (e.g. Aristida spp.), perennial sub-shrubs (e.g. Sclerolena spp.)
and ephemeral forbs (e.g. Calotis spp.). Approximately 30% of the area consisted of the
Avondale land system characterised by undulating sandy plains with ephemeral lakes and few
drainage lines (Soil Conservation Service 1983). Other minor land systems were Cobham (low
lunettes of saline clays) and Calane (broad alluvial planes).

.....:....: olling Downs

I
.Sand Plains
Alluvial Plains

Roads
' Stockyards I
0 5
I I I
10 15 20
I I
25
Scale (km)
Fig. 1. Location of the study area in western New South Wales.

Mean annual rainfall at Louth (40 km south of the study area) is 308 mm with a median
rainfall of 285 mm (Clewett et al. 1994). The study commenced in October 1995, a year with
250 mm of rain; 1996 was a dry year with only 158 mm of rain and there was 113 mm of rain
up to June 1997 when the study was terminated.

Properties in the area are 200 to 300 km2 and run primarily sheep at 20 to 25/km2 and a few
cattle in paddocks of 30 to 50 km2. The study area mainly comprised three property units
 Feral goat movements

('Westmere', 'Pelora' and 'New Chum'). Feral goats were opportunistically mustered or
trapped in the area as a part of normal property management. The value of feral goats was
relatively high at the time ($18 to 20lhead).

Telemetry

A total of 10 randomly selected feral goats (5 males, 5 females) were captured from two
paddocks on 'Pelora' over a 10 month period beginning in December 1995 (Table 1). Two
goats were captured on the first occasion to test the technology and our relocation methods.
Goats were either mustered by dogs and riders on motorbikes, or they were trapped by one-
way spear gates at a watering point (O'Dempsey 1993).

Table 1. Description of the I0 feral goats fitted with radio-telemetry collars and the duration of
observations on each goat.

Goat sex Age at Capture Final-ate Date Period Method of

ID capture weight weight captured finished tracked capture
(years) (kg) (kg) (months)

mustered
trapped
trapped
mustered
mustered
mustered
trapped
mustered
mustered
trapped

"Finished when goats were shot and collars retrieved

* Died or commercially harvested before weight could be obtained
Goats were fitted with SIRTRACK (New Zealand) collars and radio transmitters with
frequencies between 150.02-150.34 Mhz (0.04 Mhz between transmitters). The collars were
powered by a single 'c' size battery with an active life span of 5 years with a signal set at one
pulse per second. The collars were adjusted so that four fingers could be placed between the
collar and the goat's neck allowing for growth.

Goats were relocated by using a Telonics TR4 receiver attached to a hand-held directional yagi
antennae designed to receive signals from one direction in the range of 150-152 Mhz.
Headphones were also used to amplify the sometimes faint signals and to reduce noise from
external interference. The range using the hand-held antennae was approximately 5 km.

Tracking was carried out on a motor bike and disturbance of the goats was minimised by
following the signal from a down-wind direction. A visual observation was made on foot every
time a goat was located. Observations included local habitat and pasture conditions, group size,
sex and age structure of each group, young associated with each collared goat, vegetation
being grazed, and other individual or group activities. Map co-ordinates of each visually
located goat were established using a GPS (+50 m accuracy).
D. Freudenberger and J. Barber

A more sensitive antennae array was used to detect signals that could not be located with the
hand held antennae. A 7 m tall collapsible null-peak antennae array designed to receive signals
in the range 150-152 Mhz was mounted on a trailer for mobility. Goats were relocated every
1 to 2 months (Table 2).

Table 2. Mean distance (+standard error) between relocating the goats (interfix distance), the
number of relocations (fixes), and number of days between relocating the goats (interfix
duration).

Goat ID Mean interfix Total number Days between

distance (km) of fixes fixes (mean)

Males
02 *
08
18*
22 *
30
Male mean

Females
04
10
14*
26*
34
Female mean
Grand mean

*Excludes distance moved during relocation by commercial goat mustering

Data analysis

Interfix distances and home ranges were calculated using the RANGES V statistical software
(Kenwood and Hodder 1993). There is no single method for calculating range areas (Harris et
al. 1990), thus a variety of methods are reported. Home ranges were calculated by minimum
convex polygons (Southwood 1966), adaptive and fixed kernels (Worton 1989) and harmonic
means (Dixon and Chapman 1980). Minimum convex polygons were calculated around loo%,
95% and 90% of all fixes and these were comparable to other Australian studies of feral goat
home ranges (King 1992, Holt and Pickles 1996). This was a robust method when the number
of fixes was low, however, range size was strongly influenced by peripheral fixes and the
range area may have included large areas which were never visited. This method provided no
indication of the intensity of use within the calculated range area (Harris et al. 1990). The
kernel method permitted a non-parametric estimation of range area described in terms of a
probabilistic model. The fixed kernel method used a single smoothing parameter (factor of I),
whereas the adaptive kernel method varied the smoothing parameter so that areas with a low
concentration of points had a higher smoothing value than areas with a high concentration of
points (Worton 1989). The harmonic mean method calculated centres of activity, range, and
average position and dispersion. It was particularly useful to identify core areas, but may have
calculated ranges which included unused areas when the distribution of fixes was skewed and
number of fixes was low. One-way analysis of variance was used to test for differences
between male and female interfix distances and home ranges.
 Feral goat movements

Results

Goats in the region and within the study area were subject to intense commercial harvesting
during the study period. One goat (male 22) appeared to have moved 25 km to the north when
aerial mustering was conducted in the area. It was then captured and not released and not
replaced. Male 02 and female 26 were mustered into yards at Pelora Lake (Fig. 1) where they
were released back into the core of their home ranges. FemaIe 14 and male 18 were mustered
and transported approximately 15 km to the south to the New Chum yards (Fig. 1). The female
was found five months later and only 2.3 km south of the last fix before it was relocated. Male
18 appeared to be moving back to the north, but then it died of unknown causes. Only the fixes
before relocation were used to calculate its home range.

The monthly movements of feral goats were limited and relatively uniform in this particular
semi-arid woodland. The overall mean distance between locations was 3.1 km at
approximately 42 day intervals (Table 2). The mean interfix distance for males was 1.1 km
greater than for females, though the statistical significance of this difference was not strong
(P=0.09).

The estimated home range for these goats was sensitive to the number of fixes and duration of
data collection (Fig. 2). The estimated home range of both sexes increased with the number of
fixes which was correlated with the duration of data collection. A number of plateaux in these
curves were evident, particularly when using the kernel analysis (Fig. 2). These plateaux
suggested smaller core areas of habitat use.

a) Males

b) Females

Fig. 2. The relationship between number

of fixes and home ranges (fixed kernel
analysis) for a) male and b) female feral
goats. Note that number of fixes is related
to the duration of the study. (ID numbers
Number of fixes
refer to data in Table 1).
D. Fret~denbergerand J. Barber

Home ranges were also sensitive to the statistical method used to calculate home ranges
(Table 3). The largest overall mean estimate (45.7 km2) was calculated by the 95% adaptive
kernel methodology and the smallest estimate (14.9 km2) obtained by 95% harmonic mean
analysis (P=0.08). There were no significant differences among the other overall mean
estimates (P>O. 15).

Table 3. Home ranges (km2) for male and female feral goats ( group mean k standard error) .
Goat ID 100% 95% 90% 95% Fixed 95% 95%
Convex Convex Convex Kernel Adaptive Harmonic
Polygon Polygon Polygon ~einel Mean
Male 02 24.5 23.06 23.1 24.3 37.0 13.3

Male mean 34.8 (18.7) 29.4 (14.9) 29.0(15.1) 50.9 (28.0) 68.0 (34.9) 20.7 (14.3)
Female 04 19.6 15.2 15.2 30.1 36.5 13.0

34 22.2 16.5 16.5 29.1 36.8 12.2

Female mean 16.0 (2.9) 10.9 (2.3) 10.9 (2.3) 18.9 (4.9) 23.4 (6.1) 9.1 (2.1)
Grand mean 25.4 (13.4) 20.1 (1 1.0) 19.9 (1 1.0) 34.9 (20.4) 45.7 (25.8) 14.9 (10.0)
*Does not include fixes after relocation by commercial goat mustering

The methodologies also produced visually different home ranges (Fig. 3). For goats 08, 22,
and 26, the 95% harmonic mean methodology estimated substantially smaller home ranges
than the other statistical techniques (Table 3). This indicated that these goats may have used
the area selectively and established a number of small core areas. The harmonic mean
technique was weighted around fixes that are close to each other, hence large areas were not
included in the calculation if clusters of fixes exist as in Figure 3(d). In one case (female goat
26), the 95% harmonic mean range was only 1.9 km2, whereas the 95% polygon home range
was 5.4 km2 (Table 3). There was no weighting used in this polygon method.

The overall mean home range of the goats was relatively small (c30 km2) and variable among
individuals over an approximately 18 month period (Table 3). The mean home ranges of male
goats ( 50.9 km', 95% fixed kernel) was larger than that of females (18.9 km2, 95% fixed
kernel), but this difference was not significant (P>0.2), regardless of the statistical technique
used to calculate home ranges.

These relatively small home ranges were highly overlapping (Fig. 4). All of the goats had a
home range that overlapped with at least three other goats. Male 30 had the largest range
which overlapped with all the other goats, particularly the females, though it also included a
large area to the east in which the other goats were never located. Two females (04 & 34) were
often found together, hence their 95% home range contours were nearly identical (Fig. 4).

These mapped home ranges are probably similar to most of the goats in the study area as most
of the collared goats moved in separate small groups. Only females 04 and 34 were
consistently found in the same small group. The mean size of the groups found with the
collared males was 16.4 goats which was significantly larger (P=0.01) than the 9.6 goats found
on average with the females. Some of the collared males were occasionally found in all male
groups, but were usually found in mobs of males, females, and juveniles. The females were
often found with only one or two other females when they had young kids at foot.
 Feral goat movements

Fig. 3. Home range of a typical female

goat (26) mapped by (a) 95% convex
polygon, (b) 95% fixed kernel,
(c) 95% adaptive kernel and (d)
harmonic mean with 30, 60, and 95%
isopleths.
0 1 2
Scale (km)

Fig. 4. Home ranges (95% fixed kernels) of all ten

feral goats. Solid lines are females, hatched lines are
males.

11111
0 2 4
Scale (km)
 D. Freudenberger and J. Barber

Goats were consistently observed to associate closely with tree or shrub cover. The goats were
observed to graze in a range of habitats, (e.g. poplar box flats, edge of gidgee groves, within
and between scattered mulga groves and along the fringes of ephemeral lakes), but were never
seen grazing in open habitat more than a 100 m from tree or shrub cover. When disturbed, the
goats always scattered amongst the nearest dense cover. Once mustering began, the goats were
never found in the open. Goats were never located on top of the stony rises in the area.

The goats were most often found near creek lines or intermittent (saline) lakes in the study area
(Fig. 5). These creek lines had a eucalypt overstorey with dense shrubs in bands 50-200 m on
each side of the creek. The creek beds were used as major pathways through the area with well
worn tracks. When goats were encountered in these thoroughfares, they immediately scattered
into adjacent shrubs, which were too dense for the passage of a motorbike.

02111196
012112196
.2013/97

02116197

02/7/96
1514199
M11es Lake

Fig. 5. Locations and dates of a typical male (08; circles)

and female goat (14; squares) in association with
intermittent lakes (stippled) and creeks.

Discussion

Sample size

The aim of this st~idywas to determine the spatial scale over which feral goats live in a semi-
arid woodland system in eastern Australia. This study discovered that the spatial scale of feral
goats depends on the temporal scale of interest. Movements of goats from month to month is
limited, e.g. interfix distances of 3 km. However, the area of habitat use tends to increase with
time (Fig. 2). This is a new finding, as this is the first study of feral goats to report the
relationship between number of fixes (duration of study) and home range size. If the study had
run for another year, home ranges would probably have been larger. Home ranges may have
also increased with above average rainfall. King (1992) observed that feral goat home ranges
were larger during a period of above average rainfall than during dry conditions. Our study
was conducted during a period of consistently below average rainfall. The goats in our study
were probably not limited by drinking water availability; there were troughs and dams within
5 km of any point in the area. Goats may have concentrated their movements around low-lying
run-on areas where green forage was most abundant (personal observation).
Feral goat movements

We consider that monthly fixes over about one and half years were adequate to capture the
movement of goats within the temporal scale of management. In this region, goats are
mustered opportunistically about once or twice per year (personal observations), so the
duration of our study was within the local management time frame for goat control. We
conclude that the goats mustered from one year to the next would likely be from local
populations living in an area of 25-35 km2 - the area encompassed by 1 to 2 paddocks in this
region.

Movement patterns

The movement patterns of feral goats in this study, as expressed by convex polygon home
ranges, were similar to goats in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia (Table 4), as
reported by Holt and Pickles (1996) over five to seven months of observations. However, these
ranges are substantially less than those reported by King (1992) for the Eastern Goldfields
region of Western Australia conducted over two years (Table 4). The large 100% convex
polygon ranges of the goats in King's study were influenced by most goats appearing to take
temporary, but long excursions (>20 km) out of their core areas. We had no evidence of these
sorts of excursions in our study.

Table 4. Comparisons of feral goat home ranges (km') in the rangelands of Australia.

Location Technique Home range Reference

Males Females

Western NSW 100% Polygon 34.8 16.0 This study

"
'C
90% Polygon 29.0 10.9 " "

Western Australia 100% Polygons 40.5 15.4 Holt and Pickles 1996
90% Polygons 20.0 5.4 "
'
6'
'4
100% Polygons 322 254 King 1992
" "
90% Polygons 66.5 35.8 " "

Interfix distances at approximately monthly intervals were relatively short in our study (3.6 km
males; 2.5 km females). Similarly, King (1992) reported that the longest movements over 20
days ranged between 3.1 and 7.8 km for males and 0.8 to 3.7 km for females. Holt and Pickles
(1996) did not report interfix distances.

That home range areas of male goats in our study were on average 2.7 times greater than
females, but this was not a statistically significant difference probably due to small sample
size. In the Western Australian studies (Table 4), male core ranges were 1.3 and 1.8 times
greater than female ranges. Other studies on feral goats have also reported larger male ranges
(Riney and Caughley 1959, Yocom 1967, Coblenz 1978, O'Brien 1984, McRae 1984).

Our study and the two Western Australian studies found that home ranges of individual goats
overlap to a large extent and that males tend to encompass the ranges of a number of females.
These three studies also reported that group size was highly variable, though King reported
groups of up to 100 goats which were not encountered in our study.

Response to distwbance

The goats in this study, and those of Holt and Pickle (1996) were subject to harvesting
activities. Both studies found that goat ranges were similar in size and location before and after
mustering. There was no evidence of large numbers of goats moving into or out of the area.
D. Freudenberger and J. Barber

Two goats in our study were transported 15 km to the south, and the female returned to its core
area within five months. The other goat appeared to be heading back, but died for unknown
reasons. These movements after relocation are further evidence that feral goats may have a
strong fidelity to a relatively small core area.

Habitat use

The goats in our study were most frequently found in areas associated with intermittent lakes
or creeks, and were found only on sandy or stony plains if shrub or tree cover was nearby. This
study was conducted during a relatively dry period, and green forage was concentrated in the
run-on areas near these lakes and creeks. This habitat also provided very effective refuge from
mustering for commercial harvest. King (1992) also found that 80% of locations of females
were on lake plains or on dry lakes. Both studies found little use of hills and ridges; in our
study, the hills provided little cover. Landsberg and Stol (1996) found that the distribution of
goat grazing, as determined by dung sampling at sites near our study area, also showed that
goats strongly preferred woodland vegetation types.

In contrast, goats in the Flinders Ranges (South Australia), Barrier Ranges (New South Wales),
and the Grey Ranges (south-west Queensland) were commonly seen on steep slopes and ridge
tops (personal observations). We don't know why goats didn't appear to use the hills and
ridges in our study area.

Management implications

This study posed the question 'who owns the goat problem?', and the null hypothesis was that
goats move large distances (>lo km) on a monthly basis, and they have large yearly home
ranges (> 100 km2). On the basis of our results, we reject this null hypothesis and answer the
question by stating that the goat problem is owned, in the short-term, by individual landholders
and their immediate neighbours. The goats found this year are likely to be the same goats, on
the same property, next year. This is likely to be true for many areas of the rangelands in
eastern and western Australia.

Our study also showed that the movement patterns of goats are predictable. They usually
moved small distances and frequented lakes and plains with abundant tree and shrub cover.

We predict that periodic removal of goats (e.g. once or twice per year) that substantially
reduces the population (e.g, by 80%) will be an effective means of maintaining relatively low
numbers of goats on any one rangeland property. This prediction is based on our results, and
those from western Australia (King 1992, Holt and Pickles 1996), that goat movements are
usually small and therefore re-invasion will also be slow. No doubt large scale (>50 km)
movements of mobs of goats occur, but these are likely to be exceptional rather than common
in this relatively flat terrain. In contrast, Sharp et al. (1999) reported that annual goat removal
in Mootwingee National Park and Coturaundee Nature Reserve in western New South Wales
had little impact on goat density. They presumed that re-invasion from surrounding pastoral
properties into these hilly and rocky reserves negated the impact of culling. We expect that the
movement patterns of feral goats will vary depending on topography, relative harvesting
pressure, and feed availability.

Eradication of goats is likely to be impossible on a regional scale (Bomford and O'Brien

1993), therefore resources to remove goats on a regular basis are required. A stable and
profitable market for feral goats is one way of providing incentives and resources for many
individuals to remove goats throughout a region. Over the past four to five years, the price for
feral goats has been high (e.g. $20/head) relative to returns from sheep, and has likely been the
reason goat numbers have declined since the early 1990s when goats were only worth $4 or
less (personal observation). It remains to be seen whether current markets will be sustained and
Feral goat movements

whether such markets will provide the incentives and means to maintain relatively low
numbers o f feral goats in the rangelands.

Acknowledgements

We thank Peter and Mary Bryant o f 'Mt Mulya', the Parker family o f 'Utiara', David and
Robyn White of 'New Chum' and Shane and Lisa Smiles of 'Westmere' for access to their
properties and the interest and data they provided on goat movements in the area. Thanks g o to
Robert Palmer for assistance with graphics and t o John McMaster for support in the field. O u r
colleagues Julian Reid, Greg Hood, Alan Newsome and Dave Spratt provided helpful
comments o n drafts o f this paper. This study was approved b y the CSIRO Division of Wildlife
and Ecology's Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (Application N o . 94/95-32)

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Manuscript received 13 M a y 1998, accepted 5 December 1998