Five native black goats eat one hectare of toxic leucaena in a month, healthy and lively

The rampant problem of leucaena, one of the top 100 toxic invasive alien species, may have a solution! In an experiment at the Penghu Work Station of the Livestock Research Institute, native goats were grazed in local leucaena areas in an attempt to solve both the shortage of forage for goat farmers and the harm caused by leucaena. Five male goats successfully cleared one hectare of leucaena-covered area within a month, and showed no signs of poisoning such as health abnormalities.

Hsu Chi-tai, a professor in the Department of Animal Science and Technology at National Taiwan University, said that Penghu has large amounts of leucaena distributed on flat land, and combined with the need to conserve goat breeds, it is suitable for developing a grazing goat industry with Penghu characteristics. However, he suggested that if leucaena is used as feed, it must not exceed at most 20% of the total, stressing that it must be paired with other foods and that goats must not be allowed to graze on leucaena without limit.