Arapawa Goats
Callene has always said her rare breed conservation work at SCZ and the work at the farm is like a giant Venn diagram… with the overlap being the largest part of the diagram! It’s always been a little work goes home at night, and a little work goes in in the morning, and Arapawa is a perfect example. She joined the Arapawa board in 2013 and took over the registry in 2017.
As the Arapawa breeding program at SCZ expanded, it became evident that it would be helpful to have a partnership with a private farm, where different bloodlines could be kept safe, so the space at the zoo wouldn’t be overwhelmed.
Callene had promised Eric for 25 years that there would be no goats at their farm in Leon… Oops.
In 2017, 7 does that were part of an Arapawa rescue venture came to stay, only briefly, until permanent homes could be arranged. But, once goats breach any fence or promise, it’s all downhill from there.
In 2018, goats became a permanent part of the farm.
We now have 5 breeding bucks, 4 adult does, and 8 kids. Our goal is to have stock for sale that can complement goats from SCZ and help further conservation breeding at both places. We’ll have kids from the satellite herd at KC Zoo, SCZ, and Rare Hare. Unless we have all buck kids, we should be able to put together breeding trios for people. They might just have to drive further than around the block to get them, though!
