Goats Invade Locked-Down Welsh Town

As humans shelter indoors to reduce the spread of coronavirus, mountain goats are ignoring rules of social distancing and roaming the streets of Llandudno, a town in North Wales.

Goats Invade Locked-Down Welsh Town

A goat walks past a closed stored, near Trinity Square, in Llandudno, north Wales.

Photo by Pete Byrne/PA via Associated Press

This wild bunch is completely ignoring rules on social distancing.

With humans sheltering indoors to escape the new coronavirus, mountain goats are taking advantage of the peace and space to roam in frisky clumps through the streets of Llandudno, a town in North Wales.

A herd of goats walk the quiet streets in Llandudno.

A herd of goats walk the quiet streets in Llandudno.

Photo by Pete Byrne/PA via Associated Press

Andrew Stuart, a video producer for the Manchester Evening News, has been posting videos of the furry adventurers on his Twitter feed and they are racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

He said the goats normally keep largely to themselves, in a country park that butts up against Llandudno. But now emboldened by the lack of people and cars, the long-horned animals are venturing deeper into the seaside town. The United Kingdom has been in lockdown for the past week to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

I, for one, welcome our new goat overlords pic.twitter.com/Fk5x6XaCLM — Andrew Stuart (@AndrewStuart) March 30, 2020


“There’s no one around at the moment, because of the lockdown, so they take their chances and go as far as they can. And they are going further and further into the town,” Stuart told the Associated Press in an interview Tuesday from his parents’ pub in Llandudno, where he is waiting out the pandemic.

His videos show the goats munching on people’s neatly trimmed hedges and trees in front yards and loitering casually on empty streets as if they own the place.

A group of goats have been spotted walking around the deserted streets of the seaside town during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus.

A group of goats have been spotted walking around the deserted streets of the seaside town during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus.

Photo by Pete Byrne/PA via Associated Press

“One of the videos on my Twitter shows that they were on a narrow side street and I was on the other side and they were scared of me. They were edging away from me. So they are still scared of people,” Stuart said. “But when there’s hardly anyone around on the big streets, they are taking their chances, they are absolutely going for it. And I think because it’s so quiet, and there’s hardly anyone around to scare them or anything, that they just don’t really care and are eating whatever they can.”

>>Next: The Real Story Behind Venice’s Newly Crystal-Clear Canals

The Associated Press provides independent news journalism from around the world.
From Our Partners
Sign up for our newsletter
Join more than a million of the world’s best travelers. Subscribe to the Daily Wander newsletter.
More from AFAR