Goats Climb Trees in Morocco

Morocco is a nation directly out of “Arabian Nights”: you spot goats in trees when you travel in southern provinces of the desert country such as Agadir and Essaouira; in an ancient city, you see people all march in one direction, holding bread in their hands; if you dine at a restaurant at a night market, you may find the meal resembles a lecture on anatomy. First-time visitors would be charmed by lanterns, spices, rugs, and invisible eyes behind veils. The first time I saw a group of goats climb trees, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could goats make their way onto trees there? It turns out that goats in this part of the desert country climb Argan trees in search of food, which is otherwise sparse.

The food the goats in this part of Morocco hunt in Argan trees is Argan seeds. Argan trees grow only in this part of the world and nowhere else. Hundreds of years ago, the kernel oil from Argan seeds was discovered for industrial uses. The oil extracted from Argan seeds is now highly used for nutritional and esthetic purposes as well as for some other medical treatments.

Local shepherds follow their herds of goats to gather seeds. Goats climb trees and eat the seeds before they excrete the kernels they fail to digest.

For hundreds of years, goats and people worked together this way perfectly. On my way to Agadir, I saw many cooperatives where nut oil was extracted and finished oil products were made and sold to tourists. I saw some women cracking the kernels open.

While visiting a big oil cooperative, I learned that nowadays local people rarely depend upon goats to do the digestion work. Machines are used to reap Argan seeds and get kernels. I was invited to try some Argan oil products. They smelt great and they tasted great.

Sahara Desert is known for a dry climate where it rarely rains and it is extremely hot. To survive and flourish, goats there have learned to make their way up shrubs and trees sometimes up to 30 feet in height. These hoofed creatures have learned to navigate from one shrub to another. And they have learned to climb trees. Goats climbing trees has been selected the seventh incredible world wonder recently. A friend in Morocco told me that goats on trees are a sight that attracts tourists from all over the world.

However, Argan trees are disappearing from Morocco due to excessive grazing of goats and excessive harvesting of Argan trees. Now many people and organizations have banded together to try to save Argan trees. The endangered species is now under protection of UNESCO. An area of about 2.5 million hectares where the trees grow has been declared a biosphere preserve. The local government has issued rules forbidding shepherds to get goats to climb Argan trees in order to allow the seeds to ripen and fall off naturally.