Two dozen goats eat their way through NYC's Riverside Park to help clear out invasive plants

Two dozen goats eat their way through NYC's Riverside Park to help clear out invasive plants
"It's like an all you can eat buffet. It's the ultimate farm to table," says Riverside Park Conservancy.
PHOTO: Reuters

NEW YORK - It's an environmentally friendly win-win for invasive species removal at Riverside Park and the goats in New York on Tuesday (May 21). The goats get to munch on overgrown brush, and Riverside Park Conservancy doesn't have to dump chemicals on weeds and poison ivy.

"We decided that we were going to invite in, a group of 24 goats to help us to clear this area to give more life to our native trees and plants," said Dan Garodnick, Riverside Park Conservancy president.

"What's great about the goats is that they are an environmentally friendly way of clearing out invasive plants. You know, frequently you hear use of tentacles and pesticides to be able to clear out invasive plants.

Goats, they're just eating a quarter of their body weight every day. For them, it's like an all you can eat buffet. It's the ultimate farm to table."

Goats are an ingenious approach to weed removal, harnessing the goat's natural hunger for leafy greens as the primary mechanism behind the task, which traditionally involves pollutant chemicals. They even eat species dangerous to humans, like poison ivy.

The goats, which come from Green Goats farm in Rhinebeck, will be munching to their hearts' content through August 30.

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