‘Adopt A Goat’ Initiative Launch In An Italian Island After Animals Outnumbered Human Population

The mayor of Alicudi, an Italian island overrun by goats, has proposed distributing the animals for free to anyone wishing to adopt them.

Riccardo Gullo came up with the idea after a recent census revealed that the number of goats on the five-square-kilometer island of Alicudi, the smallest of Sicily's Aeolian archipelago, was six times the island's year-round population of 100.

Goat Dominating The Island

The animals, who are proficient at climbing Alicudi's high cliffs, formerly coexisted peacefully with the humans and were as popular as the island's dormant volcano.

However, their population has grown so rapidly in recent years that they have begun to migrate from their usual habitat at the top of the island to the inhabited area, destroying lush green vegetation, wreaking havoc in gardens and allotments, knocking down portions of stone walls, and even wandering into people's homes, prompting calls for a solution.

Alicudi, located two to three hours by boat from mainland Sicily, is administered by the bigger island of Lipari.

The "adopt a goat" effort was the most humanitarian method to address the situation.

"We absolutely do not want to even consider culling the animals, so we are encouraging the idea of giving them away," said Gullo.

How To Adopt?

Anyone can make the request to adopt the animals, and there are no restrictions on numbers.

According to the Sicilian regional authority, the goats were brought to the island some 20 years ago by a farmer, who then released them.

For years, the animals, which are not owned by anybody, grazed freely on the edges of Alicudi's cliffs and appeared on practically every postcard from the volcanic island.

However, when left to their own devices, they reproduced at an incredible rate.

Anyone interested in adopting up to 50 goats can submit an official request to the community by April 10, according to the mayor, who added that he will extend the deadline until all of the goats are adopted.

To make their request official, the applicant must email it to the local administration and pay a stamp price of €16 (about $17).

"We have heard from dozens of people since we first announced this," Gullo said, including a farmer from the nearby island of Vulcano, who produces goat cheese.

Once the goats have been assigned, the goat-taker has 15 days to capture and remove them from the island.

While the giveaway will continue until the local herd is drastically diminished, a few will remain to pose for tourists.

Alicudi isn't the only place to experience an unexpected flood of wandering goats.

In June, a community in McKinney, Texas, awoke to a startling sight: 40 renegade goats walking around-and nibbling on-residents' lawns after breaking away from a herd grazing at a neighboring development.

During a coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, inhabitants of Llandudno, Wales, saw herds of goats wandering the streets after more than a dozen of the animals descended from the hill above the town.