New Scottish Parliament Petition - Calling for an end to the shooting of wild goats in their breeding season

March last year (2025) found the people of Langholm and Newcastleton in the South of Scotland, in the middle of a furore. Oxygen Conservation, the new owners of a large estate in the hills between the two settlements, had begun a mass cull of wild goats. 

The wild goats have roamed the hills for centuries, some even say thousands of years, and are revered by locals and those that travel from far and wide to enjoy seeing them. 

The cull had begun without local consultation and was aiming to reduce a herd of 138 animals down to just 20 (85% reduction) right in the middle of the goats` kidding season. 

As wild goats have no protection in Scotland, quite astonishingly, this act was legal. People were rightly outraged and called for an end to the cull. A local petition gained 3,836 signatures and was presented to both the House of Commons and to Holyrood (by John Lamont MP and Rachael Hamilton MSP respectively). 

The fact that wild goats may be shot whilst nursing young or while heavily pregnant is more than just inhumane, it is barbaric and must be stopped. 

The Wild Goat Conservation Trust is putting forward a new petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for a closed season to wild goat shooting in Scotland so that mothers and their young may be safeguarded during this sensitive period. 

A new Scottish parliament will be formed after the May elections when we will put this petition forward. 

We hope that we may count on your support. 

Thank you from us and the wild goats of Scotland.