Highland Goat

Highland Goat

　　The Highland goat is one of the excellent meat-type goat breeds in our province. Its meat is tender, has little gaminess, and tastes sweet and savory. During holidays, people from other provinces and Hong Kong specifically go to Fuqing to purchase Highland goats. Overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau with roots in Fuqing also make it a point to try Highland goat meat when they return home.

　　　　The Highland goat has a plump body, with grayish-brown or dark brown fur. There is a band of black fur from the back of the neck to the base of the tail, and the fur below the knees of the limbs is black, as are the hooves. Each ewe typically gives birth to two litters per year, with two or three kids per litter. Adult males weigh between 27.88 and 45 kilograms, while females weigh between 25.98 and 40 kilograms. It originates from towns such as Gaoshan, Shapu, Donghan, Sanshan, Gangtou, and Longtian in Fuqing, as well as Pingtan County, and has now spread to areas such as Fuding, Xiapu, Luoyuan, Lianjiang, Minhou, and Yongtai through introduction, where it is known as the “Fuqing Goat.” The Highland goat usually feeds on plants such as Digitaria sanguinalis (June snow), Cenchrus ciliaris, Cynodon dactylon, Setaria viridis, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Chenopodium album (goat ear), as well as rabbit grass and snake grass. In winter, it eats dried vines of peanuts and sweet potatoes. Due to a lifelong diet akin to a “medicinal diet” and regular exercise running in the mountains, the Highland goat has thick lean meat layers, thin fat layers, and an additional interlayer of alternating fat and lean beneath the skin. Its meat has the benefits of soothing the stomach, nourishing weakness, strengthening the body, reducing inflammation, and promoting wound healing. In recent years, the price of Highland goat meat has been rising continuously, reaching 15 to 18 yuan per 500 grams.