A herd of goats is being used to control a weed infestation at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan

A HUNGRY herd of goats is helping to clear an African Olive Weed infestation at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan.

Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan curator director John Siemon checks the progress of the goats munching their way through the olive infestation. Picture: Robert Pozo

THE Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan, has a new weapon in its fight to gain control over an infestation of the african olive weed.

A herd of 22 goats, comprising 18 wethers and four females, have been chewing through the infestation in a four-week trial.

The goats are among a range of measures at the garden aimed at ridding it of the African olive weed. At one point, the weed had covered 80ha of the 416ha garden.

Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan, curator manager John Siemon said the garden had explored several measures such as herbicides but had been looking to biodiversity options including the goats.

“They’ve done quite a remarkable­ job, you can really see the difference between where the goats have been and where they haven’t,” Mr Siemon said.

The goats are munching through the weed infestation at a phenomenal rate. Picture: Robert Pozo

“The goats are hand picked selectively based on their behaviour and sense of teamwork, the goat handlers have trained them well.”

Mr Siemon said the infestation had become quite serious and he was delighted to see the garden’s control measures making a difference.

“The African olive can produce about 25,000 viable seeds a year and we think they are carried by birds which helps them spread,” he said. “It has a smothering effect on the vegetation that becomes so dense that it seriously restricts sunlight.

“Next year we’re hoping to have removed it (completely) from the eastern front of the garden.

“In five years we hope to have eradicated it entirely.”

The african olive weed is rampant throughout Macarthur and at one point covered 80 hectares of the Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan. Picture: Robert Pozo

Mr Siemon said the cost of removing the weed has been expensive but methods such as the goats had helped to reduce­ these costs.

“We estimate that to remove the weed from Mt Annan it would cost about $2 million,” he said. “At this point we’ve removed about half of it.”

Mr Siemon said the garden would look to bring the goats back later this year at the completion of the trial.