Europe
Goat brigades help battle Portugal’s deadly wildfires
8 years agoPortuguese shepherd Fernando Moura, 49, milks a goat near Loriga, at Serra da Estrela mountain, in center Portugal on September 21, 2018. - Hoping to contain wildfires that threaten its mountains each year, Portugal's government has hired goats to munch through undergrowth and create natural, cost-effective fire barriers. For the next five years, goats have one mission -- to roam across the slopes of the central Serra da Estrela range and clear around 50 hectares (123.5 acres) of scrubland to create the natural firewalls. (Photo by Francisco LEONG / AFP)
Fernando Moura and his herd may not look like heroes but the Portuguese farmer and his 370 goats are the latest recruits in the country's battle against summer forest fires.