No goat zone: Kangaroo Island now feral goat free

For the first time in nearly 200 hundred years, Kangaroo Island is free from feral goats.

Assistant Minister for the Environment, Melissa Price, today formally announced that feral goats have been successfully eradicated from Kangaroo Island.

"The eradication of feral goats and feral deer is the culmination of more than a decade of work by this community, coordinated by Kangaroo Island NRM," Ms Price said.

"I'm proud that the Australian Government has contributed more than $1 million to make this possible, including the most recent investment of $92,500 under the Threatened Species Commissioner model to get the very last goats.

"The effective eradication of feral deer has also been achieved, but we need to wait for a period of time before their full eradication can be declared.

"Community support is critical to projects like these, and I thank and congratulate the groups and individuals who have been involved with this important work.

"Kangaroo Island is the now largest island in the world to have successfully eradicated feral goats and the success of this project will provide long-term benefits for biodiversity, threatened species and primary production on Kangaroo Island."

The Threatened Species Commissioner, Dr Sally Box, also praised the collaborative work between the island's community and the Australian Government.

"Many species will benefit from this work, including Threatened Species Strategy priority species like the Kangaroo Island Dunnart and the Silver Daisy Bush," Dr Box said.

"I often say that conservation is everyone's business and this is a great example of what we can do when communities and government work together."

Assistant Minister Price said with the successful eradication of goats and deer, the next target would be removing feral cats from Kangaroo Island.

"To date the Australian Government has invested some $800,000 in feral cat eradication projects on Kangaroo Island. Just last month, I announced eight new projects under the Threatened Species Recovery Fund which included another $65,000 to support landholders to carry out feral cat trapping on the island, helping the endangered Kangaroo Island Dunnart.

"I look forward to making an announcement, similar to this, in the future—declaring Kangaroo Island feral cat free."