How to turn a problem into big profits: The great Australian goat rush.

[Dinner]

https://youtu.be/JZc7ja_apqk

This is a really interesting story because it shows how Australian ranchers have turned what they used to think of as a feral pest into one of the country's single largest agricultural exports. Feral goats were a huge ecological problem as they are an invasive species in Australia and tend of over graze the land and compete with both native wildlife as well as livestock. Changing tastes in export markets in Asia and North America has meant that it is now more profitable to round up feral goats for sale as meat exports than it is to ranch beef cattle or sheep.

Now whole regions of the Australian bush which had been economically depressed for decades are seeing a massive boom all due to "King Billy". It is a great video by 60 minutes Australia.

[pchang]

The ironic thing is that the environmentally sound thing would be to over harvest and eventually eradicate all the goats. However, the monetary success may lead to managing the goat collections to turn it into a sustainable business.

[Dinner]

Honestly, that is a common problem. Invasive species take hold of an area and some smart guy figures he can sell them but once a market arises other folks start to spread the species further as it is so profitable. In the U.K. they refuse to allow harvest of Chinese Mitten crabs despite sky high prices out of fear that once the market is established people will deliberately spread the invasive species.

[spambot]

The biggest ecological disaster in Australia is the humans

[spambot]

When England sends its people, they're not sending their best.

[Dinner]

Many of the megafauna of Australia were hunted to extinction by the aborigines.

[N35t0r]

Many of the megafauna anywhere where it didn't get to evolve alongside humans was hunted to extinction (and some of it as well, and we've given those a run for their money as well)