Grazing goats return to Calgary this month

A herd of goats will once again be tasked with weed control in Calgary this month.

About 800 goats will graze at Rubbing Stone Hill Natural Parkland Zone, a 58-hectare area within Nose Hill Park, for two weeks starting Sept. 4.

Andrew Phelps, a parks ecologist with the City of Calgary, says the heard will help reduce the fire fuel load on the northeast side of the park, and will also open up new spaces for grasses and wildflowers by eating invasive weeds and shrubs. 

"It's kind of a smorgasbord this year," he said.

"We will be targeting some of our invasive weeds like our Canada thistle, knotting thistle, south thistle, those type of invasives, and then the goats will also be going after our woody invasives."

The City of Calgary has used goats as an environmentally-friendly response to weed control since 2016, and first at Nose Hill Park in 2022, with great success, according to Phelps.

"The reason we have selected this area is because there is a high concentration or abundance of our native grasses here," he said.

"Rough fescue is primarily the one that we're interested in, it has been dwindling across the Great Plains, and Alberta as a whole, and up here in the Rubbing Stone we have the largest intact piece of rough fescue plant community, so there's a large conservation initiative to make sure that we keep that intact and healthy."

According to the city's website, Rubbing Stone Hill Natural Parkland was historically roamed by herbivores like bison and elk, which helped maintain the ecosystem.

"With the reduction of these herbivores, the park has seen an overgrowth of vegetation, as well as shrub and tree encroachment into the grassland; threatening the health of this ecosystem," states the city's website.

Jeannette Hall, operator of Bad Plant Management and Reclamation, owns goats that eat about three and a half kilograms a day.

She's trained in vegetation sciences and understands the biomass and the special bio mechanisms of targeting the weeds.  

"A ton of thinking and planning goes into what we're actually doing, because we are just mimicking how bison would have worked on these sites," she said.

"Can you imagine millions of pounds and feet of bison trampling over this hill as they graze it right down? But they leave, that's the important thing is that they leave. So the more animals, the better, the shorter the better, that's the trick to this."

The goats will be allowed to wander in the park and graze, helping manage vegetation and promote biodiversity.

The gaggle of goats will be monitored and managed 24/7 by a professional shepherd and herding dogs. 

To ensure the safety of the herd and the public, physical interaction between the animals and the public isn't allowed.

However, there will be program ambassadors on site on several days to chat with members of the public about the targeted grazing program.

For more information on what days and times they'll be on site, you can visit the City of Calgary's website.