New Worker Goats Arrive At Prospect Park As Other 4 Depart

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — Four goats who have been working tirelessly to clear invasive plants in Prospect Park have returned to their home in upstate New York, and a new chew crew has arrived to continue their job.

The new group of four goats, who moved to Brooklyn late last week, are positioned on Lookout Hill in the park behind the Well House.

They are munching away at poison ivy, honeysuckle, English ivy and other weeds that sprung up after Hurricane Sandy knocked down some of the park's native trees and allowed the ground to be bathed in sunlight.

"We’re trying to bring back its health. Make it healthy again," Christian Zimmerman, the Vice President of Capital and Landscape Management at the Prospect Park Alliance, told Patch about the park's native wildlife. "Part of the idea is to move invasives and plant desirable species that are both good for wildlife and the public."

The goats include two Nubians named Eyebrows and Horatio, along with a Nigerian Dwarf named Lily Belle and an Alpine named Swiss Cheese. They'll be chomping away on the undesired plants until early or late October, Zimmerman said.

Then, "depending on how effective" they are, the goats "may or may not come back next spring" and then new planting in the area will begin in the fall, according to Zimmerman.

And the quartet will be monitored by the U.S. Forest Service to determine their exact effectiveness. Scientists examines the plot of land before the goats arrived and will study it after they leave, comparing it to a "control" are that was left untouched, Zimmerman said.

The Prospect Park Alliance says this is "the first time a scientific study is being conducted to measure their work."

While the first four goats this summer in the Vale of Cashmere weren't being measured, Zimmerman says "they did pretty well."

"We don’t believe we’re going to bring them back to" the Vale, Zimmerman said. "Everything is tamped down quite a bit. The alliance’s field crew is now assessing that and setting up. We’re working toward planting this fall in that project. In two years they did a really good job."

Images courtesy the Prospect Park Alliance