Riccardo Gullo, the mayor of an Italian island overrun by wild goats, has offered to give the animals away — free of charge.
A recent census estimated the number of goats on the five-square-kilometre Alicudi, the smallest of Sicily’s Aeolian archipelago, was six times the island’s year-round population of 100. This prompted Mr Gullo’s idea to give away the goats.
“We absolutely do not want to even consider culling the animals, so we are encouraging the idea of giving them away,” he said. “Anyone can make a request for a goat, it doesn’t have to be a farmer, and there are no restrictions on numbers.”
Mr Gullo said people had already enquired about securing the goats.
"[There is] a farmer on Vulcano island who would like to take several goats as, among other things, he produces a ricotta cheese which is much appreciated," he told the Guardian.
Vulcano ‚— with Alicudi — is one of the seven islands of the Aeolian archipelago. The group of islands is a Unesco world heritage site.
The goats are reportedly adept at navigating the steep landscape of Alicudi, in the Aeolian archipelago north of Sicily. However, recently they have become a problem.
They have damaged lush green vegetation, causing havoc in gardens and allotments, knocked away portions of stone walls — and even wandered into people’s homes.
Residents have demanded a solution.
The goats were first brought to the island 20 years ago, by someone attending to breed the animals, it is thought. Former councillor Paolo Lo Cascio first highlighted the problems caused by the goats' growing population in 2008.
“There needs to be a solution as the threat to the island’s vegetation is serious,” said Mr Lo Cascio, who estimated the goat population at 800 rather than 600. “But Alicudi is a very complicated island, first you have to access it and then try to capture all the goats. There should have been an intervention 10 years ago.”
So how do people obtain a goat free of charge?
CNN reported that anyone interested in taking up to 50 goats can make an official request with the community by April 10. However, Mr Gullo would extend the deadline until all the goats were adopted.
The applicant must email their request to the local authority, and pay a €16 (£13.70) stamp fee to make it official.
“We have already had several phone calls, including from a farmer on Vulcano island who would like to take several goats as, among other things, he produces a ricotta cheese which is much appreciated,” Mr Gullo said. “If someone has the capacity to domesticate a goat, it could be a beautiful and more humane way to control the issue.”
