Grazing goats eradicate honeysuckle (Saint Louis Zoo)

On April 28-30, 2009, Forest Park Forever, the Saint Louis Zoo and St. Louis Department of Parks teamed up in a unique partnership to eradicate honeysuckle bushes in Forest Park. An hour a day for three days, Zoo docents accompanied a group of five goats in a wooded area in Forest Park to nibble shoots of invasive honeysuckle bushes that crowd out Missouri's native plants.

"Bush honeysuckle dominates urban forests throughout the St. Louis area, and the successional forest was no exception," says Steve Buback, Forest Park Forever nature reserve foreman. "Over the course of the last year, our staff and volunteers, with assistance from a Missouri Department of Conservation grant and the Emergency Response Team from Americorp, cleared 16 acres of honeysuckle, some more than 30 feet tall. The goats will remove any young plants that have moved in within the last year, helping to control any regrowth that may have occurred. Goats are ideal for this project because they prefer to browse on woody vegetation, and the only woody vegetation remaining in the area is bush honeysuckle. They provide a unique opportunity to control invasive vegetation without the use of heavy equipment or herbicides."

http://www.stlzoo.org/wildcareinstitute/centerforconservationinfor/zoosgoatsh...

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Zoo
• animal
• goats
• invasive species
• honeysuckle
• Forest
• Park
• native plants
• funny
• St. Louis Zoo
• St.
• Louis

[HTCSWEOD]

The St. Louis Zoo... seem to lead the way with so many adaptive programs. I've been to zoos from coast to coast here in the U.S. and am most impressed with ST. Louis... props to the children's zoo and it's curator for taking part in this program!