In a win-win, the goats get an all you can eat buffet and the park doesn't have to use chemical weed killer.
ADVERTISEMENTThese goats were welcomed like rock stars as they arrived at an NYC park yesterday.
They are there to eat overgrown weeds to clear space to allow other plants and trees to flourish.
In a win-win, the goats get an all you can eat buffet and the park doesn't have to use chemical weed killer. The goats' natural hunger for leafy greens allows the park to avoid pesticides. They even eat species dangerous to humans, such as poison ivy.
"The goats are helping us with important horticultural care of Riverside Park. The area behind me is part of our Woodland Restoration Project. It's an area with some significant steep slopes, which is overrun with invasive plants, lots of poison ivy and it's difficult for our gardeners to be able to clear out, open up and to plant native species, which is what we really want there," said Dan Garodnick, Riverside Park Conservancy president.
"What's great about the goats is that they are an environmentally friendly way of clearing out invasive plants. You know, frequently you hear use of tentacles and pesticides to be able to clear out invasive plants. Goats, they're just eating a quarter of their body weight every day."
The goats, which come from Green Goats farm in Rhinebeck, upstate New York, will be munching to their hearts' content until 30 August.