Endangered Arapawa goats need breeders to survive, says advocate

Island Babe and Island Girl were captured by DoC hunters from Arapawa Island on February 14, 2013.

For Alison Sutherland, it was love at first sight.

“They’re just so pretty,” she explained, describing the small stature and distinctive brown and black markings of Arapawa goats.

“Depending on their whakapapa, some are cream and tan and a variety of browns.

“When I realised that their DNA is unique, I found them incredibly appealing.

“They exist nowhere else in the world.”

It was back in the early 2000s, living on a lifestyle block in the Wairarapa and already keeping rare breeds, that Sutherland had a passing thought: “All we need now is a goat”.

It was the start of a two-decade journey into history, genetics and preservation.

This led her to become a passionate advocate for one of our most endangered species.

A distinctive goat breed

Summerwine Blondie and her twins, Beckie and Bella, were bred by Michael Trotter in Christchurch.

Arapawa goats are unlike any other.

DNA testing has confirmed they’re genetically distinct from more than 70 other goat breeds worldwide.

“Their ancestors were believed to be a mix of now-extinct Old English goats and a rare South African breed, introduced to Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds during Captain James Cook’s second and third voyages in the 1770s,” Sutherland explained.

Captain Cook’s journals told of goats being gifted, smuggled ashore, and even taken home to England.

One female goat aboard the Endeavour reportedly circumnavigated the globe twice, supplying high-cream-content milk for the crew and eventually retiring in Cook’s garden as a pet for his sons.

“These goats are part of our colonial history,” Sutherland said.

“They represent the first contact between Māori and Europeans.

“They didn’t choose to be here; like many of us, they adapted and made a life.”

For more than 200 years, the Arapawa goats lived in isolation, evolving into their own distinct breed.

They adapted to the island’s environment, forming tight-knit herds, dispersing and regrouping, developing unique colourings depending on their lineage.

Saving the goats

Alison Sutherland (PhD) with an Arapawa Goat.

But in the 1970s, conservationists saw them as a threat to native plants, and an eradication programme began.

When their significance was realised, people started taking goats off the island to save them.

“It took me two years to finally get a pair – a boy and a girl,” Sutherland recalled.

Realising that their future needed structure, she founded the New Zealand Arapawa Goat Association and launched a living register.

“At their peak in recent years, over 400 goats were registered.

“Today, only 248 remain on the national registry – many ageing, with just 182 known does.”

Several are listed as being in the Bay of Plenty – including “Rosie” at The One and a Half Acre Wood animal farm at Whakamarama.

“Rosie was the size of a chihuahua when we first saw her in her breeder’s arms at a day old,” owner Dianne Amott said.

“We bought her for our son to hand-rear nearly 10 years ago, and she’s still a star attraction for visitors here. Her favourite treat is seaweed crackers.”

She described Rosie as having a “sassier personality” than most other goats.

“She’s highly intelligent,” Amott said.

“She is always getting herself into some sort of mischief.”

Without a new generation of breeders, the Arapawa goat is at genuine risk of extinction.

“These goats symbolise our shared story,” Sutherland said.

“As a European New Zealander, for a while I felt as though I didn’t belong here.

“Just like the goats, I adapted to the ecological environment.

“They belong too. They adapted. They survived.”

For more information or to join the effort to protect Arapawa goats, email: arapawanzgoats@gmail.com