The goats of Llandudno

The pandemic lockdown has had an unintended consequence: empty streets in towns and cities around the world are being reclaimed by wild animals. I've seen videos of wild boars, seals, antelope, lynxes and deer happily walking down streets that are normally congested and polluted with vehicles. The wild goats on the Great Orme at Llandudno have grabbed the headlines. I used to work in North Wales in the mid 1990s and I return there most years for a short holiday. I know Llandudno well and I was fascinated to see the goats wandering around the empty streets, helping themselves to privet hedges and generally enjoying the newly available space without, what must be for them, the terrifying racket of human activity.

When the pandemic is behind us, somehow we need to find ways of sharing our urban spaces with nature. We cannot go back to the way things used to be.

I was last in Llandudno in June last year and I went up the Great Orme especially to see the goats. After all, I am a goat farmer so I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see the animals. I caught them on the video above, starting about 1 min 42 seconds.