Tourists hunting for the Balearic goat

PalmIn Mallorca, tourists don't just come to soak up the sun on the beaches; they also come to see the native goats. This is known as hunting tourism, a word derived from Greek. kyōn ('ca') alluding to the animal that goes in search of the downed prey. Animal rights groups have always been against it. Guillem Amengual, president of the Progress in Green party, explains the reasons: "It should be prohibited. It's not a hunt to control the goat population, but for simple fun. And the most degrading thing is that it's done for profit and the trophies are displayed on the internet."

Dr. Bartomeu Seguí Campaner, a biologist at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), is very familiar with the origins of hunting tourism in Mallorca. In 2015, he conducted a study with two other colleagues. "The goat," he asserts, "arrived in the archipelago more than 4,000 years ago with the first settlers. Today it inhabits the Serra de Tramuntana and the Serra de Llevant. In the other islands, its presence is not as significant. There are two types: the feral or borda (with approximately 12,000 inhabitants, or 2,500), also known as fina and popularly as the Balearic goat.

The feral goat appeared in the 1950s with the boom Tourist activity began when the agricultural abandonment of the Serra de Tramuntana started. "Then," Seguí points out, "many domestic goats were left to roam freely, without any shepherd's watch, and mixed with the wild ones. These were goats that had been imported in the 18th century to produce milk and meat. With that hybridization, the goat population grew uncontrollably." The researcher provides a rather revealing piece of information. "If we take an aerial photograph from 70 years ago, we'll see that the Serra was much more deforested because extensive sheep and goat farming was ten times greater than it is now. Since the native vegetation wasn't enough to feed them, they made reed beds, which then produce very nutritious new shoots."

Sustainable Hunting

It wasn't until 1992 that the first formal regulation of goat hunting was introduced, and it was only permitted on a number of estates converted into private hunting reserves. In 1998, the first attempt was made to conserve the purity of the Mallorcan wild goat with the declaration of the Mortitx estate (Escorca) as a genetic reserve for this species. In 2004, Safari Club International recognized the Balearic goat as a big game trophy. In 2007, the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) took the step of incorporating it into hunting tourism, following a practice that was already quite widespread throughout Europe. "It was only authorized," Seguí emphasizes, "on those estates where there was a surplus of goats. It was considered a tool for biological conservation. If nothing was done, it could have led to the uncontrolled wild boar population that is currently being experienced in Catalonia, where the government is considering mass culls. It's about implementing mass hunting. We cut down the trees so they grow stronger."

In Mallorca, goat control hunts (only for feral goats) are already being carried out by environmental agents or COFIB (Consortium for the Recovery of Fauna of the Balearic Islands). There are also private landowners who request authorization to cull goats that damage crops, terraces, or forest resources. According to public data, both groups cull around 1,500 goats annually. Summer is when the public most notices the 'uncomfortable' presence of goats. The heat causes many to leave their safe zones and invade roads, parking lots, roundabouts, coves, and viewpoints, where tourists often feed them. This is prohibited by law, as the relief provided by certain foods can create an addiction in some goats to the point of aggressive behavior towards humans to get the honking that attracts them.

Exemplary sanctions

Currently, hunting tourism is practiced on 16 estates, which hold the Big Game Hunting Quality Certificate awarded by the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca). In total, these estates cover approximately 10,000 hectares. "On average," says Seguí, "around eighty hunters come to the island each year, mainly in spring and autumn. This number is reasonable and has remained stable over the years. It cannot increase further, as this practice is governed by the surplus of Balearic goats, which is always monitored with strict controls to obtain the Quality Certificate." Hunting tourists are primarily Americans, followed by mainland Spaniards, Russians, Danes, French, and Germans. They pay around 5,000 euros for hunting for two or three days. "This money," notes the researcher, "allows the owners to cover part of the high cost of environmental management on their estates. Clients are always accompanied by a guide who has notified the Environmental Agents of their presence." One of these guides is Pedro Campaner, from the company Mallorca Hunting. "They already arrive," he says, "with hunting licenses from their countries. For them, the island is just another stop on their hunting route throughout Spain. I've had multimillionaires who don't mind a thing." The penalties are significant for offenders. "There are officials," Seguí recalls, "who are constantly monitoring social media to see if they find people showing off Balearic goats that weren't hunted with the proper permits. Fines of up to 20,000 euros have been issued."

At most, the hunting tourist usually hunts two animals, using a rifle or the traditional method with dogs and a snare. In this method, the hunter is accompanied by dogs that herd the goats onto some rocks where they become trapped, with no escape. Then, with a long pole, the hunter passes a rope around their neck or neck. Once captured alive, they are killed. "There are tourists," the biologist points out, "who then stuff the heads of the slain animals, especially those with the largest horns, to hang them at home as trophies." Pedro Bestard (Vox), vice president of the Consell de Mallorca and head of the Hunting Department, asserts that hunting tourism is a promising venture for the future: "We're already going to promote it at major fairs in Madrid. And now we want to go to international fairs. We're talking about people with high purchasing power."

Threatened Flora

Local hunters, if they pay for the service, can also hunt the Balearic goat. However, many prefer to dedicate themselves to hunting small game or feral goats in the nearly 500 hunting reserves available to them. This practice, with some 2,000 licenses granted, results in the annual death of around 7,000 animals. "In the past," says Seguí, "the main target was the females. Now, the aim is to maintain a balance between males and females." The researcher insists that today, goat overpopulation is not the only threat to the flora of the Serra de Tramuntana. "There is also the danger of fires, which can be exacerbated by the abandonment of many properties that previously provided firebreaks in the undergrowth."

Miquel Capó Servera, a professor of Botany at the UIB, is also concerned about the environmental damage caused by goats. "Outside of the hunting reserves," he states, "they wreak havoc on endemic species. For example, the Joana rockrose and the tree spurge are plants that they don't eat once they're grown, but they do eat them when they're germinating. Reforestation campaigns are carried out. However, the goats end up getting inside the protective fence."

The controversial action in Vedrà

Capó maintains that controlled hunts are the only viable option for conserving biodiversity. However, these cases are always controversial. In 2016, the animal abuse advocacy group Basta Ya de Maltrato Animal (Enough is Enough) filed a complaint against the Ministry of the Environment when it ordered the culling of the goats on the Ibizan islet of Vedrà. The islet's owners also objected; they had brought the animals there in 1992 after they had become extinct a decade earlier. On Easter Sunday eve, they had established the tradition of going out in traditional boats to hunt the males, leaving the females and kids alive.

That government decision was supported by the environmental organization GEN-GOB and was ultimately upheld by the courts based on reports from forest rangers who certified that the goats on Mount Vedrà were "a regressive and degrading factor for protected plant and endemic species." The Palma Provincial Court also ruled that relocating the animals to avoid culling them was not feasible. "Thanks to that controlled hunt," Capó emphasizes, "today Mount Vedrà has recovered flora that was on the verge of disappearing." Now the botanist considers it a priority to take action against the goats on the peaks of the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range. "That's where they climb, and there are more endemic species there that are already threatened by climate change. If the planet continues to warm, they won't be able to grow any higher."