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Jose Fedriani, an ecologist with the Desertification Research Centre, an institute in Spain that’s dedicated to the study of environmental degradation in dry lands, agrees that seed dispersal is a good thing. But he says the goats aren’t just eating fruit; they’re devouring leaves and seedlings. It takes from seven to 15 years for argans to reach maturity and produce fruit, so putting several goats in an area where they can destroy the seedlings—especially during droughts—actually prevents tree rejuvenation. Mauro Belloni, a student visiting from Italy who had stopped at Benaddi’s tree, looks both stunned and baffled as he takes in the scene. “It’s quite amazing,” he says. "I thought the goats were fake when I saw photos of them. But they're real—they’re actually posing.”
The organization evaluates animal welfare according to five domains: nutrition (access to food and water), environment (comfort), health (freedom from pain and injuries), behavior (freedom to express natural habits), and mental state (psychological well-being). Goats forced to climb trees for the pleasure of tourists were maltreated in all five, Cabrera Holtz says. Daniel Bergin, associate director at Globescan, a sustainability consulting firm, has studied animal welfare in Morocco and is sympathetic toward Benaddi and other farmers like him. “Obviously, you can’t just take away somebody’s livelihood,” he says, referring to calls by animal welfare advocates to shut down the goats-in-trees business. “There needs to be a system in place. The government needs to work with the people.” This natural phenomenon is unique to North Africa. The goats are attracted to the Argan fruit which grows mainly in southwestern part of Morocco and western Algeria Take bear dancing in India, Bergin says. Formerly, cubs were poached from the wild and trained to dance on the streets for tourists. In 2012, India’s government condemned the practice as cruel and made it possible for bear owners to take jobs in sanctuaries for the animals.The nut of the Argania tree is used to produce argan oil, which is used for cosmetic and culinary purposes. So while you might think the farmers of Argania trees would discourage this fruit consumption by these hairy creatures, many landowners actually encourage them to consume the fruit for a couple of reasons. The first is argan oil.
The country’s natural food sources for animals can be meager, so the goats are pretty determined to get to this tasty dinner. If they’ve eaten all the low-hanging fruit of the season, they’ll hop up into the branches and get to eating whatever’s available. Asma Kamili, the head of Morocco’s Animal Health Division for the World Organization for Animal Health, says she isn’t aware that goats in the Essaouira region are put in trees to earn tourism dollars. She says climbing trees is “a natural behavior” of the animals and is good for argans because if goats eat the fruit and disperse seeds in their feces, that increases the number of trees. In 2021, when the nonprofit organization World Animal Protection ranked 50 countries based on their laws and policy commitments pertaining to animals, Morocco was one of only seven given a failing grade. Benaddi’s argan tree is second in line out of Marrakech. He hopes that when drivers pull over, they’ll leave a generous tip. “Some people pay 10 dirhams [about a dollar],” he says. Some even give 10 dollars. “It’s not like selling potatoes—there’s not one set price.” Benaddi says the money is crucial for caring for his wife, five children, and animals—two sheep and a donkey as well as the goats.
Why Do Moroccan Goats Climb Trees?
No, they are not. Goats climb naturally on trees to find food when they can’t find it on the ground. Drought conditions in Morocco are expected to intensify through mid-century, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Tourism is another primary reason you’ll see goats in the trees. Farmers formerly encouraged them to jump up so they could do their part in “cleaning” the argan seeds, but now it’s more about keeping tourists coming to see the uniquely behaving quadrupeds and their happy munching. Many of the farmers charge for a variety of things, like taking photos, posing with the goats, and so on. Tour buses bring in groups to see the goats and the tour companies give a stipend or tip to farmers for allowing them to bring sightseers by for the stop on the way to other Moroccan destinations. When you travel the world, you’ll find all kinds of interesting animals doing unexpected things. If you’re an animal lover, you’ll set your sights on destinations like Australia, where sugar gliders swoop through the air and quokkas snuggle up to visitors on Rottnest Island in the hopes of getting some fresh greens from the Melaleuca bush tops nearby. But the rest of the world has some pretty interesting animal situations, too, including the tree-climbing goats of Morocco. Why Do Moroccan Goats Climb Trees? The Argan fruit is ripe in June, so the best times to see the goats climbing around in the trees will be late spring and early summer. You can see them higher in the trees at other times of the year, but the sightings aren’t as consistent.
Using goats as aerial eye candy is good “for attracting tourists,” Fedriani says, “but it's not good for the trees at all.”
Goats simply can’t digest the fruit’s seed, no matter how much they enjoy eating it. Their munching on them, though, strips away the skin and fruit. They then swallow the seed or spit it out, meaning a clean, spit-out seed or one that’s passed through their digestive system and been “softened.” These animals are being manipulated and exploited,” she says. “They're not moving freely. They don't have access to food, water, or even shade. Being forced to stay in trees for hours is not a normal behavior." ‘Flying goats’ It did at least involve the people who would have been out of a livelihood and allow them to continue working while improving the lives of the animals,” Bergin says. Unfortunately, the animals are now abused. To keep the goats from jumping down, the herders tie them to the tree branches for hours, until the tourists stop coming. In summer, when temperatures can soar to the hundreds, the goats get very tired and dehydrated. Adnan El Aji, a veterinarian in Essaouira, says goats are resilient and can cope with stressors such as heat and water scarcity. But making them stand in trees for hours during Morocco’s summers, when temperatures can soar to the hundreds, can lead to heat stress and dehydration. And the animals can fall out of trees and get hurt. He recalls the time a tourist brought a goat that had fallen and needed treatment for a broken leg. “The tourist paid for it,” he says.
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