Goats are eating gardens and becoming a traffic hazard in the Goldfields town of Kambalda, where a tribe of more than 200 have been making themselves comfortable for the past few months.
While goats have been part of the Goldfields landscape since the gold rush days when they were kept for milk and meat, they had generally stayed out of towns like Kambalda.
The town, about 60 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie-Boulder consists of two town sites, Kambalda West and East.
Coolgardie Shire president Malcolm Cullen said locals first started noticing the animals coming closer to the town sites and homes earlier this year.
He said a group of about 250 to 300 had been hanging around, especially in Kambalda East, sometimes splitting up into smaller groups.
Mr Cullen said while much of the conversation had been on social media, the council had received four official complaints about the animals.
"One person had one up on their car," Mr Cullen said.
The most common complaint had been that the large groups of goats had been causing a nuisance.
"They are a traffic hazard on the roads, they are unavoidable," he said.
Mr Cullen said while there were a number of theories why the goats had ventured closer to town two of the main factors were probably the recent dry conditions and the threat of wild dogs in the area.
"The plants in people's gardens might be a bit more succulent than what they can find out in the bush at the moment," he said.
"Wild dogs have also been a big problem in the area, they have wreaked havoc on sheep farms and now they are targeting the goats, so they might be coming in to seek shelter from them."
Whatever the reason, there are mixed views within Kambalda about what to do with the goats, some people want a cull, while others enjoy having the animals around.
Mr Cullen told WAtoday the shire was unable to do much about the animals, that it was outside its jurisdiction and that "the shire doesn't really have resources to deal with them."
The shire has, however, hosted a meeting with local pastoralists and mining lease operators who have agreed on an action plan.
It is illegal to use firearms, so rather than shooting them, pastoralists will set up trap yards to round them up. The goats will be lured in with water but once in the yard will not be able to get out again.
Mr Cullen said there was a market for live goats, where the pastoralists could sell the animals, most likely for meat.
He said the council and other stakeholders would meet again in two or three months to reassess the situation.
