Step aside, Joey Chestnut (the award-winning competitive eater famous for his hot dog consumption every 4th of July). The first-ever professional eating competition between goats, appropriately called The Great Goat Graze-Off, will take place on July 12 in New York City. The event will feature five invasive plant-eating fiends from the Riverside Park Conservancy—Kash, Rufus, Mallomar, Romeo, and Butterball.
“Competitive eating events—whether human or goat—are quirky, high-energy spectacles that tap into our love for friendly competition and fun,” Alison Ettinger-DeLong, communications manager at Riverside Park Conservancy, tells Popular Science on behalf of the conservancy team. “People enjoy watching the goats munch with gusto and cheer for their favorites, but the deeper enjoyment comes from seeing animals do what they naturally love (for goats, that’s eat!) while learning about their role in environmental care.”
Ettinger-DeLong confirms that the contest does not involve force-feeding. It is short, safe, and aligns with the animals’ normal eating habits, consisting of a controlled amount of their preferred foods. The event will be emceed by Major League Eating’s George Shea, host of the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.Â
The conservancy has been hosting goats at Riverside Park on the west side of Manhattan for the past five summers. The goats help clear a steeply sloped area of invasive plant species, including poison ivy, where it’s particularly difficult for park volunteers and staff to work. According to their website, Riverside Park’s goats work like a herd of full-time professional weeding staff.
“They can navigate steep slopes or other hard-to-reach areas a lot easier than people or machines, with a lower overall impact on the land,” Jared Harmon, executive director of the Mid Michigan Land Conservancy, explains in a Michigan State University Q&A. “Plus, their manure doesn’t smell as bad as other livestock, which is another perk of using goats for these control methods.”Â
[ Related: Humans probably didn’t mean to tame sheep and goats. ]
Plus, goat poop makes the soil more nutritious, according to the Riverside Park Conservancy. For those of you worrying that the goats will simply re-spread the invasive plant seeds through their poop—as many other animals do—Harmon explained that the animals’ four-chambered stomachs destroy most of the seeds before that can happen.Â
“The eating contest will be a lighthearted way to give the public a chance to cheer on their favorite goats and learn about urban ecological practices,” Ettinger-DeLong adds. As for the prize, the winning eater will earn the title of the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) Grazer, a celebratory photo-op, and of course, bragging rights.
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