Feral goats in Australia: A study o

Feral goats in Australia: A study on the quality and
nutritive value of their meat
N.M. Werdi Pratiwi a,*, P.J. Murray a, D.G. Taylor b
a School of Animal Studies, Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia
b Baroona Park, Mail Service 1497, Toowoomba, Qld 4352, Australia
Received 14 October 2005; received in revised form 19 June 2006; accepted 19 June 2006
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of fresh and cooked meat, and the nutritive value of this meat from 62 male
Australian feral goats. The goats were slaughtered at 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 kg liveweights. Half of the goats were castrated and
half were left as intact animals. The quality profiles of meat (e.g. pH, colour, pigment concentrations, cooking loss, shear force value and
eating quality of cooked meat) from both castrated and intact feral goats started to decrease when animals were slaughtered at heavier
liveweights (e.g. above 40 kg). The nutritive value of the meat (chemical compositions, fatty acids and total cholesterol concentrations)
changed when animals were castrated and had heavier slaughter weights. Overall, we recommend that 40 kg liveweight is the heaviest
slaughter weight, since the quality characteristics of meat will be lower when feral goats were slaughtered above 40 kg liveweight.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Feral goat; Castration; Slaughter weight; Meat quality; Nutritive value
1. Introduction
Wild or feral goats have been part of the Australian
landscape since 1788. Their populations increased after
they were abandoned because of the collapse of the goat
fibre industries in the late 1800s and because dairy goats,
used as a source of milk by farmers, either escaped or were
released into feral flocks (Jago, 1999). Feral flocks developed
and multiplied in areas where the dingo, their main
predator, was absent.
About 1 million feral goats per year are harvested for
slaughter from a population of 4–6 million goats (Murray,
2000) and these are derived from dairy (Saanen, Toggenburg
and Anglo Nubian) and fibre (Angora and Cashmere)
goats, that were released or escaped from managed flocks.
Feral goats typically have slow growth rates (less than
100 g/day) and reach maturity at bodyweights between 45
and 55 kg (McGregor, 1985) or up to 60 kg (Jago, 1999).
These original goat breeds have effectively adjusted to the
environment and when domesticated and carefully selected,
provide an excellent base for the development of cashmere,
mohair, leather and meat production programs (Meat
Livestock Australia, 1989). This domesticated feral goat
has been referred to as the Australian (bush) goat and
when slaughtered is a major source of meat for export
(Meat Livestock Australia, 1989).
Since 1952, the majority of Australia’s goat meat production,
that has fulfilled Australian and overseas market
demand, has come from feral goats (Miller, 1999) as well
as from Boer goats which was introduced into Australia
as a meat breed of goat in the 1990s (Murray, 1997). Today
goat meat production is acknowledged as an established
industry in Australia (Miller, 1999) which is a dominant
exporter of goat meat in international trade (Meat Livestock
Australia, 2002; Murray, 2000). There is strong
demand for goat meat both domestically and overseas,
including the live goat export market (Meat Livestock Australia,
2002), and it is predicted that the growth will
0309-1740/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2006.06.026
* Corresponding author. Fax: +61 7546 01444.
E-mail address: n.pratiwi@uq.edu.au (N.M. Werdi Pratiwi).
www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci
Meat Science 75 (2007) 168–177
MEAT
SCIENCE