Tree Climbing Goats of Morocco

In southwest Morocco, you might actually be forgiven for asking daft questions like “do goats grow on trees?”. Everywhere you look, you will find dozens of goats hanging out lazily from the tree tops, munching absentmindedly like overgrown crows.

Goats are skilled climbers and are known to scale steep rock faces and mountains in search of food. The ones in Morocco climb trees for the same reason – food, which is otherwise scarce in this drought-ridden region. The goats are drawn to the fruit of the Argan tree, which ripens in June each year. The Argan grows to 8-10 meters high and live up to 150–200 years. They are thorny, with gnarled trunks, but the goats, who have been climbing these trees for centuries, have learnt to adapt themselves to the task.