We go(a)t a help

Lisa Trimmel (Intern)

05.10.2021

Today I would like to tell you a story, unlike usual it will not be about the normal animals at the wolfsiencecenter, such as dogs and wolves, no, today I will tell you about three goats.
A few months ago the WSC grew and three goat ladies moved in: Schnukki, Schwänli and Bärli. The three were lucky, because most of the goats that reach us are intended to feed the wolves. But these three were called to higher levels. They are our mowing machines. The enclosures for the dogs and especially the wolves are very large and so we have some hectares of space. In spring and summer, when everything is sprouting and growing, it´s not easy to keep the plants in check. But this year we go(a)t support. The ladies initially moved into an unused dog enclosure, surrounded by the occupied dog enclosures. Our dogs had a lot of fun in the beginning, especially Enzi always jumped up on the fence, like a rubber ball, so he can look over the green cover to the goats. Even if you took the dogs for a walk, the dogs always had to stop and stare. First the goats were restless and afraid, but they settled in quickly.
Schnukki is the most open-minded goat. Whenever you go to them, she was there immediately, wants to be petted and starts rubbing her head on our pants. The other two are also interested, but don't want to be touched. So, we started to do Leash Training with Schnukki, because at some point they have to move to another enclosure, and we somehow have to bring them there. We were amazed that it worked out pretty quickly and the other two also ran after, without having to put them on a leash. In the meantime, they have eaten up three of our enclosures. Especially Schwänli was very thin when she came to us, but with so much food you soon couldn't see her ribs anymore.

The wolves are also happy about the goats. When the wolves walk past the goat enclosure, they always look into it with great excitement. One day we had to bring Chitto and Tala to one of the previous goat enclosures. When we let them into the enclosure, they chased through the enclosure with a big smile and they hoped that there might be still a goat inside. Everywhere was sniffed and rolled in the excrements with passion.
Soon the goats will move into the next enclosure and get a new challenge there. They do their job very well and all sides benefit from this community.