Herd of goats take over empty Welsh town during Covid-19 lockdown

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David Child1 April 2020

Have you heard the one about goats taking over a Welsh town? Well, it turns out it's true.

Wild Kashmiri goats have been spotted wandering freely through Llandudno's deserted streets in recent days, nibbling at hedges and springtime gardens as they go.

The animals typically spend their time grazing on the heights of the nearby Great Orme headland and only usually venture down to the town during bouts of bad weather.

But with so many fewer people out and about amid the coronavirus lockdown, some think the creatures have been drawn into Llandudno this time by little more than inquisitiveness.

Goats take over the deserted streets of Llandudno - In pictures

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"They are curious, goats are, and I think they are wondering what's going on like everybody else," town councillor Carol Marubbi told the BBC.

"There are very few visitors on the top [of the Orme], so they have come down in their droves.

"There isn't anyone else around so they probably decided they may as well take over."

Ms Marubbi added that everyone in Llandudno was "very proud" of the animals, which belong to a herd of about 120 goats, saying they had provided "free entertainment" to people cooped up indoors.

Andrew Stuart, a resident in the town for more than two decades, has been capturing footage of their adventures as they trot about.

In the videos, posted on Twitter, the goats can be seen skipping along empty roads and nonchalantly perched on garden walls while eating off nearby trees.

In one clip, they can even be spotted entering a local churchyard in search of a spot for a "lie down".

Mr Stuart's footage has meanwhile been picked up on by social media users across the UK, many of whom appeared eager to enjoy a moment of light relief amid the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

English actress Emily Atack said she was "living for the goats", but pointed out the herd may have been flouting social distancing guidelines issued by the government.

While Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker said the flurry of woolly activity would substitute for an ongoing lack of football...

And London-based Australian comedian Felicity Ward simply gave in to Llandudno's new "overloards".

The Kashmiri goats are thought to have been introduced to the Great Orme in 1907 from the Royal Family’s Windsor Great Park herd.

The goats originate from a breeding pair gifted to Queen Victoria by the Shah of Persia in 1837 upon the former's accession to the throne.

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