As if wild boar hybrids, still particularly prolific despite culling, weren't enough, now goats are also getting involved, whose colony on the island of Caprera is progressively growing.
And so it happens that, in the only church on the island, that of the Madonna della Pace, in the village of Stagnali, some beautiful specimens of the horned quadruped sneak into the little church to feed on the plants and flowers displayed among the shelves, altars and paintings of saints.
Then, last Sunday, in yet another "incursion," the well-kept garden in front of the church suffered devastation, particularly the plants and flowers around the granite altar outside. During the summer, Sunday Mass is celebrated here, a popular event, both outdoors and attracting many tourists, thanks to its picturesque setting. And it's not just the church garden that goats visit, but other areas as well, including small vegetable gardens.
The Caprera goats number well over 300: according to what Aldo Luigi Manunta, general director of the ARS (Sardinia Regional Breeders' Association), declared during a conference organized by the National Park some time ago, they do not descend from the goats brought in the 18th century by Corsican shepherds who crossed the perilous waters of the Strait of Bonifacio to reach Maddalena and Caprera, nor from those raised in the 19th century by Garibaldi, nor do they descend from those later left in the wild by a shepherd who lived near the Arbuticci fortress.
They would be unique in the national landscape, different from the goat populations of Sardinia, where two native breeds exist. This is why a study commissioned by the National Park is underway to learn more.