goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)

Goats are used for conservation grazing. They can both graze and browse (to height 2m by rearing on their hind legs or climbing), and they also strip bark. Goats are very selective, having narrow muzzles and a flexible upper lip, and in diverse habitats spend more of their feeding time browsing (up to 75%) than other large herbivores. Goats control scrub that is invading grassland, and also browse mature heather to a greater extent than sheep. Goats are descended from the wild goat (Capra aegagrus), native to a region from the eastern Mediterranean to central Asia.

This definition is abridged from A – Z of tree terms: A companion to British arboriculture.
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