A local petition calling for Oxygen Conservation to stop their cull of the ancient herd of wild goats on their estate in the Scottish Borders closed with almost 4000 signatures.
On Thursday 10th April, copies of that petition are being handed to local politicians in the middle square at Newcastleton, or alternatively posted to their offices.
Rt Hon John Lamont MP, will be attending at 11.15am.
Racheal Hamilton MSP, will be attending at 2pm.
Oliver Mundell MSP, has asked for a copy to be sent to his office and has promised to personally take the issue to the relevant ministers in the Scottish government.
Rt Hon David Mundell MP and Emma Harper MSP have also had invitations to attend or have the document sent to their offices.
The copies of the petition to end the shooting of wild goats and the call for a seven point plan to properly conserve the historic wild goat herd as part of the natural upland ecology in the hills and moors around Langholm and Newcastleton, will be handed to the politicians by The Wild Goat Conservation Group.
Gail Brown, Secretary and Vice-Chair of the newly formed Group and who set up the petition, said “The response was overwhelming, local people felt dismayed and outraged at the shooting of the charismatic wild goats that have roamed our hills for centuries. Evidently, Oxygen Conservation had total disregard for the fact that they were shooting our wild goats right in the middle of their breeding season and this only added fuel to the fire.”
David Braithwaite, a local sheep farmer and Chairman of the Group, commented that “This ancient herd of wild goats has been naturalised to these hills for at least several centuries. They are an integral part of the ecology of the hills and moors to which they are hefted. They are the very spirit of our uplands.”
Whilst we may agree that in the longer term the herd may require management, currently there is insufficient knowledge to base any culling activity.”
THE WILD GOAT CONSERVATION GROUP feel the weight of the obligation to ensure that so many local voices are heard and heeded and are extremely pleased that our local politicians are taking this matter very seriously. In the end, we believe that the Scottish government will have to fix the delicate tenure of this ancient herd by granting our wild goats legal protection.”
As wild animals the goats are not owned by anyone, but the recent events have shown that they must surely belong to the people of Scotland who hold them in such great esteem.”
