as small as a world and as large as alone

5:19pm July 26, 2013

odditiesoflife:

Tree Climbing Goats

Goats climb trees. It might be unbelievable to some, but it’s absolutely true. In several locations around the world, goats are climbing trees just as well as other goats can climb mountains. To witness this phenomena, one area that features the tree climbing goats is along the western edge of Morocco near Essaouira.

Tamri goats climb trees in search of food, which is otherwise sparse in the region. This is an amazing feat considering they are hoofed animals. They specifically climb Argan trees to feed on their nuts and leaves. The Argan nuts the goats consume are used to make an oil which is highly prized in Morocoo. 

In order to make the oil, the goats’ droppings are collected by the locals as it contains the kernels of the seeds of the nut. The droppings are then pressed and ground into oil. Even more disturbingly is that this oil has a number of uses including culinary and cosmetic. For a quarter-liter bottle of this goat digested kernel oil, you can expect to pay from $15 to $50. 

Known as skilled navigators of treacherous mountain conditions, maybe it isn’t such a surprise to find goats making their way up the steep and narrow trunks and branches of only slightly more dangerous trees. Unfortunately, the Argan tree is slowly being over-harvested as so many other resources are on our planet.

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