Scientists are trying to understand how a herd of goats not only survived but thrived on an isolated island in northeastern Brazil for over two centuries without any known fresh water source.
It’s not clear how exactly the goats originally wound up on Santa Bárbara, one of the five volcanic islands that make up the Abrolhos archipelago, about 70 kilometers off the coast of Bahia, but scientists believe they were brought and left there by colonizers. Livestock like goats, pigs, and poultry made for a reliable food source, but they were usually left behind when colonization failed. Their presence on Santa Bárbara Island has been documented for more than 250 years, according to historical records, which is remarkable if we take into account that the small island has no known fresh water sources. Despite this “inconvenience,” the goats thrived on the dry, windy island to the point where they had to be relocated in order to protect endemic plants and animals.
Photo: Bailey Mahon/Unsplash
Last month, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), which manages the Abrolhos National Marine Park, carried out the removal of the last 27 goats on Santa Bárbara, after it was concluded that their presence compromised the island’s ecological balance, particularly affecting seven species of seabirds that breed in the region. However, the animals were not eradicated because scientists want to study them, particularly their ability to survive on little to no water.
“We believe they developed unique talents to survive, Erismar Rocha, the head of the Abrolhos National Marine Park, said. “If their population hadn’t been controlled, they would have taken over the entire island and self-destructed.”
Remarkably, in all the years that scientists studied the mysterious goats of Santa Bárbara, they never once saw them drinking water, which begs the question, “How did they survive there for over two centuries?” At this point, experts can only speculate. Some believe that the goats may have adapted to drinking seawater and that this behavior was passed on to subsequent generations, while others credit beldroega, a plant with a high water content found on Santa Bárbara, for the animals’ survival.
Photo: Abrolhos National Marine Park
But the goats of Santa Bárbara weren’t just surviving there, they were thriving. Researchers reported that most of the births on the island were twin births, which suggests that the goats were “well nourished and healthy”.
By studying the goats of Santa Bárbara Island, Brazilian scientists hope to decipher the secret to their extreme resilience, which could help develop new breeds better suited to survive the challenges of climate change and adapt in arid regions, such as northeastern Brazil.
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