Social Climbers

Question: Where in the world can you find goats clinging to the branches of trees?

Answer: Morocco

The only animals you expect to see in most trees are cute squirrels. But the trees in Morocco have goats in them—big bleating ones. They hang out in the branches of the Argania spinosa, short thorny trees that have been growing wild in Morocco for millions of years. Standing on impossibly precarious branches up to 30 feet high, the goats are there to feast on the argan fruit ripening at the top of the tree. The parts of the fruit those unusual tree-climbing goats are unable to digest—the nuts—are ground up to release their argan oil, a prized commodity that has become known as “Berber gold.”

So, is it just the spectacle of the goats or is argan oil really that special? It’s not like you can see tree-climbing goats anywhere else in the world. And argan oil is only extracted from trees that grow in this region of southwest Morocco from Essaouira down to the Anti-Atlas Mountains—so it’s really a little of both.

Argan oil is one tough nut to crack

Argan oil has been valued for centuries by the Berbers—or Imazighen—the Indigenous peoples of North Africa including Morocco’s Rif Mountains. The oil was used as an all-purpose salve for the skin, to condition hair, and to heal scars. It also imparts a strong nutty flavor to food—and continues to be incorporated into a wide range of recipes.

One reason why argan oil is so expensive is how difficult it is to extract. While some modern methods have been introduced in production facilities, the most effective method of extracting argan oil is still doing it the old-fashioned way—by hand. A source of cultural pride among Berbers, this centuries-old traditional method begins with gathering the fallen fruit from the argan tree and leaving it out in the sun until the pulp can be removed. After the argan nut is cracked by hand between two stones, the kernels are ground into a thick paste (except those used for edible oil, which are lightly roasted first). Water is then added to the paste, and the mixture is kneaded until the oil separates. This traditional method is very labor-intensive, of course, especially when you consider that it takes about 44 pounds of those sun-dried nuts to produce just one liter of argan oil.

Goats don’t just grow on trees, or do they?

The goats aren’t just up there for show. They play an important role in both the production of argan oil and the health of the trees themselves. First off, goats around the world living in more temperate climates aren’t climbing up trees because they don’t have to—all of their food is literally underfoot (or hoof). The goats in Morocco don’t have that option. They can either put their instinctual climbing ability to good use and grab some of that lovely treetop fruit or they can starve.

Local farmers have always encouraged the strange feeding practice during certain times of year. To ensure the survival of the argan trees, goats are kept away until the fruit has ripened. Traditionally, the reason farmers wanted the goats to feast on the nuts was for them to partially digest them to soften the hard outer shells. Then, the farmers could collect the regurgitated nuts—which were now easier to open—for their argan oil production.

The goats aren’t interested in the large, hard seeds. They’re only after the fleshy exterior of the fruits. It’s always been assumed that the goats swallow them anyway and let them pass through their digestive tract. And indeed, some of the smaller seeds do, and the “droppings” are collected for argan oil. But most are regurgitated by the goats (in a similar manner of cows, sheep, and other ruminants) and then collected for argan oil.

To be clear then, only a small amount of the seeds used in argan oil production are collected from goat droppings. Most of the seeds collected for their oil are those that have been regurgitated and spat out by the goats (at least it’s better than the other way around, no?). This form of “seed dispersal” by the goats also has great ecological benefits. Some plants rely on birds or the wind to carry their seeds, others evolved sticky seeds that can hitch rides on passing animals, Argan trees have spitting goats. The gangly trees, which can live up to 200 years and have deep roots, form an important barrier that protects the local environment from desertification. Researchers have determined that 70 percent of the regurgitated seeds are capable of growing new argan trees—establishing the nimble goats as the critical link to ensure the survival of Morocco’s argan forest.

Morocco’s argan trees are getting some people’s goat

Unfortunately, the tree-climbing goats are also becoming victims of their own success. Morocco has been experiencing its worst drought in decades, making it increasingly difficult for farmers to grow crops. Out of desperation, some are taking advantage of the high demand to photograph their tree-climbing goats. Instead of letting their veteran herd members clamber up argan trees of their own accord, more and more new goats are being brought into the area. After training them to climb or even physically carrying them up onto the tree branches, many are being forced to remain in the hot sun all day to attract more tourist dollars. Obviously, this is not good for the goats or the argan trees.

This practice only takes place in certain areas, but people should be aware that everything may not be as it appears. And profit should never take precedence over an animal’s welfare.

While tree-climbing goats are certainly a uniquely unusual phenomenon, they aren’t the only animals that can be found in entirely unexpected places.

A few more odd animal hangouts around the world

• • Hanging out with snakes—You expect to find snakes slithering on the ground or even gliding on water, but the hundreds of snakes who call the “bat cave” in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula home like it just fine high up in the ceiling crevasses. After biding their time until the swarms of bats enter or leave the cave, the serpents then dangle down to catch a snack on the fly.
  •          Hamming it up in the Bahamas—Big Major Cay, a tiny island in the Bahamas, is ruled by a large group of free-roaming feral pigs. They love the water and will swim out to greet approaching boats, often hopping aboard to root around for any food. Some say they arrived after surviving a shipwreck, but it’s unclear where the hooved residents of “Pig Island” came from.
    
  •          More dam climbing goats—At the Cingino Dam in Italy’s remote Antrona Valley, look closely at the specks seeming to move along the dam wall. They’re actually goats using the tiniest brick outcroppings to scale the nearly vertical dam. It appears like a death-defying feat due to no apparent viable footholds, but the precariously perched goats are perfectly comfortable. They may be seeking sustenance since they have been observed licking the bricks and gnawing on the lichen growing in the cracks, but it’s also an effective defense against predators. A few have actually fallen to their deaths, however, but on balance (so to speak), the dam goats are likely much safer than the ones left out on the open plain.
    
  •          Drug mules and rogue hippos—In the 1980s, cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar was living the high life at his sprawling estate in central Colombia. He even imported four hippos (three females and one male) for his private zoo. But after the Medellin cartel leader was killed in a hail of gunfire by the Colombian police in 1993, the hippos got out of the drug trade, escaping the confines of the estate to settle along the banks of the Magdalena River. With no natural predators in South America, Colombia’s wild hippopotamus population has now reached about 200—the largest hippo colony outside of Africa. In a bit of irony, the rogue hippos—which are threatening the ecosystem and local population—are ruled by an alpha male nicknamed “Pablo.”
    
  •          Irish wallabies are smiling—In the 1980s, the Dublin Zoo had a wallaby problem. The population had exploded and not wanting to have them destroyed (or worse, feeding them to the tigers), they turned to the owners of Lambay Island, a tiny island about three miles off the coast of Dublin where there was already a small population of red-necked wallabies—survivors of private zoo begun in the early twentieth century. Shipped by trawler and set free, the Australian natives moved into their new digs. Some 10,000 miles from home, several hundred of them now reside happily on the island, adjusting to the harsher climate by growing denser coats of fur than their Aussie cousins.
    
  •          A fish out of water—Akaka Falls, a 442-foot-high waterfall on the northeast coast of the Big Island of Hawai’i, is so picturesque most people miss the most interesting part. Directly behind the falls, goby fish literally climb up the wet rocks to reach their spawning grounds. Just a couple of inches long, the fish live in the Pacific most of their lives but return to spawn in the stream above the falls. They use a special sucker on their underside to propel them Spider Man-style up the vertical rock wall. 
    
  •          When good monkeys go bad—A small group of monkeys was brought into the country to be used in polio research. After doing their duty, the troop was meant to live out their days at a new Florida wildlife park. But they turned out to be real hooligans, escaping from their cages, stealing candy from children, breaking into cars, and worse. The park decided to banish the three spider monkeys and two squirrel monkeys to a tiny nearby island they nicknamed Alcatraz where tourists could observe them from a safe distance. Forty years later, they’re all still there (plus one) and the popular island jail is now called Monkey Island.

Learn about argan oil production on an optional tour during the Essaouira & Casablanca post-trip extension to Morocco Sahara Odyssey.