September 12, 2019
Edmonton’s hired weed-eating goats are currently working their final shift as part of a three-year pilot targeting noxious weeds. The goats have returned to the same 10-hectare piece of parkland in Rundle Park for the past three summers, three times each summer.
“Once the goats leave Rundle Park next week, our partners from Olds College will finish their research on which species of noxious weeds are growing in Rundle Park,” says Joy Lakhan, the City of Edmonton’s GoatWorks Project Coordinator. “They will also look at how the species have changed over three years, and how effective the goats have been at controlling those species.”
The results, which will be available next year, will help the City determine the future of the program.
The GoatWorks pilot was introduced in 2017 as an environmentally conscious method of weed control in natural areas and parks. This innovative program was introduced in response to City Council’s ban on cosmetic herbicides, with some exemptions, on City-owned land in 2015.
Take a look and listen back at the goats—and get a quick education in the weeds they target—in this video.
