Goats receive awards for eating invasive plants

Five goats were honored for being the best of a herd of 24 goats that spent the summer feasting on invasive plants. The G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) awards were presented to the top members of the herd in a ceremony held at Riverside Park in Manhattan.

The five winners were chosen on the basis of votes from thousands of locals who closely followed the animals' story from the time they were brought to the park in the spring.

Massy, a 10-year-old goat, was voted the best goat. She tore through 1,328 pounds of vegetation. The other winning goats were Bella, Buckles, Chalupa and Skittles.

The herd of goats grazed on invasive plants, such as Japanese knotweed, wineberry, poison ivy, mugwort and English ivy, as a part of the park's Woodland Restoration Initiative.

Riverside Park's 60 acres of forested areas are plagued with invasive species of plants. Goats have the ability to consume 25 percent of their body weight in vegetation, so the herbivores can help get rid of weeds without using harmful chemicals.