Goats are feral here, mainly. They seem to pop up in large mobs all over the place and used to get shot out, by people like me. Farmers latched onto it though, eventually, and now round them up and truck them to market by the thousands. The revenue keeps some of those farmers afloat from year to year - Revenue without having to do anything at all because they're feral.
Largest free-range mob I ever saw was several hundred. I was out pig hunting with some mates once, the farmer (station owner) says, "don't go to the dam at the south-east corner of the property, or don't shoot there at the very least." We go down there and see several thousand goats being loaded onto road trains for market. Literally 5 or 6 thousand! At the time carcass-weight price was about $1 / kilogram...So, a lot of money there.
It's big business here, for the export market and pet food, plus some domestic sales. The state of Victoria produced the highest slaughter figures for 2018 at 891,100 head, Queensland with (429,522) and my state, South Australia (226,089). Pretty big numbers considering they are not really the primary focus of the Stations however it's fast-becoming a strong focus for many of them, hence why many will not allow shooters on their land.
Sorry...This is a long-ass reply.
That would be crazy to see a thousand wild goats. I would definitely be rounding them up.
We raise Kiko goats. They started as feral goats in New Zealand.
Oh really? Bloody New Zealanders are everywhere! 😂
You milk them or are they for the table?
Just for the table
Ah ok...Goats milk cheese is a thing here. Most get exported to the Middle East though I suppose.