Jun 14, 2017 ... Why are these goats in this tree? Post a comment telling ... The Learning Network . Goats in a Tree ... What are they doing? Where in the world ...
No, this is not an illustration from a book by Dr. Seuss.
These
domestic goats live in southwestern Morocco, where the climate is dry
and in some seasons the only available forage is in the trees. So the
goats climb up to get it.
Goats
are good climbers — some sure-footed species live happily on mountains,
leaping from ledge to ledge. But these domestic goats are not born with
an ability to climb trees. They learn the technique as kids.
Their
keepers help them climb, and they trim the trees to make it easier for
the kids. The goats eventually learn to do it themselves. In the autumn,
when there is little food on the ground, they spend most of their time
grazing the treetops.
Now
researchers have found that the trees benefit, too. Many animals eat
the seeds of plants and then defecate them at another location. But the
seeds of the argan trees that these goats graze on are about an inch
long and a half-inch across — too big for a goat to pass.
Fortunately
for the trees, goats are ruminants: They chew their cud and regurgitate
it to be rechewed before being swallowed for good. The researchers
suspect that while the goats ruminate, they spit out the large seeds, often far away from the mother plant, increasing the chance of seed and seedling survival.
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