AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE ANGORA GOATS

The definition of Australian Heritage Angoras has been developed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust of Australia based on the twenty years or more work of the now defunct Angora Goat Breeders. The registry for Australian Heritiage Angoras is now maintained by Erinrac Enterprises with their PAIRS scheme.

The Rare Breeds Survial Trust of Australia wrote:

The Australian Heritage Angora is Australia’s most significant endangered goat breed. With only three registered breeders and less than 150 purebred animals remaining, the future of this breed is uncertain. Having a history that is different to any other Angora around the world, RBTA strongly encourages support for the preservation of the registered Heritage Angora that has doucmentary evidence of its ancestry from Australia’s first registered Angora stud: the Banksia herd.

The Australian Heritage Angora has a unique history. Its history is different to that of the Texas Angora of USA and the South African Angora, both of which have come to dominate the Australian mohiar industry over the past two decades with their higher yielding fleeces. With only three dedicated, small scale breeders remaining, the Australian Heritage Angora is at risk of being lost.

The Australian Heritage Angora is worthy of our attentions and support and needs an action plan put immediately in place to ensure its ongoing survival. Whether it is preserved to honour the quality and distinctiveness of its unique fleece or as a living treasure – a reminder of Australia’s unique pioneering hisotry – the Australian Heritage Angora is uniquely Australian and accordingly needs to be preserved.

from RBTA’s Paddocks & Perches Vol 4 No 5 October 2004
with permission

The three breeders referred to are, in order of seniority in involvement with the breed

  • Barbara Irving
  • Valerie Donald
  • Christine Stanley

Thanks are due to Val Donald for her perservance in gaining the RBTA’s notice and endorsement, & to Barbara Irving for recognizing the value of the original bloodlines and forming the Angora Goat Breeders to ensure the lines would not be lost and in 1997 for setting up PAIRS once other goat interests saw the AGB take new directions and eventually fold.