Judas goat

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A Judas goat is a goat equipped with a tracking device that is used to track down wild goats. A conspicuous color marking on the fur and the horns of the animal can be used to distinguish it from the other animals. The name is based on the apostle Judas Iscariot , who betrayed Jesus of Nazareth .

origin

Goats were also introduced by migrants to several of the Galapagos Islands . These are partly overgrown and have increased en masse due to the lack of predators . There is talk of up to 400,000 wild goats, which destroy the livelihood of native, endemic and protected herbivores through massive herbivore . As part of nature conservation measures, these goats were initially shot down from a helicopter. However, this was only effective as long as there were whole herds of goats. Individual surviving animals that retreated into the undergrowth and were thus protected from view from above could not be shot.

Since the sometimes impassable terrain made it difficult to hunt down for hunting from the ground, goats equipped with tracking devices were released. A conspicuous color marking of these animals prevents confusion with the goats to be hunted. The marked goats seek the company of their free-living conspecifics and reveal their whereabouts. The wild goats can then be killed by hunters. The Judas goats then look for conspecifics again and begin their unintentional treacherous work again.

A similar approach is used in Tasmania with foxes , which also had no natural occurrence there and the prevalence of which poses a threat to the native marsupials . Here one speaks of Judas foxes.

According to other sources, Judas goats are those used by shepherds to lead a flock to lead them to the slaughterhouse. Here the herd stays. The Judas goat, on the other hand, is rewarded with freedom and can lead the next herd to death.

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