On Saturday, July 12, Riverside Park Conservancy kicked off Goatham 2025 by welcoming back a wonderful herd of goats for a new event: “The Great Goat Graze-Off.”
While the Conservancy has become well known for using goats to help control invasive plants in the Park over the last six years, this year marks the first time the goats participated in a professional eating competition to celebrate their arrival in the park. The contest was officiated in an epic fashion by George Shea of “Major League Eating” and the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest fame!
Many major news outlets covered the official proceedings, including the NY Post, NY1, ABC, 1010 Wins, Popular Science, TimeOut and Gothamist.
As a very serious journalist from CBS News reported, the goat contestants had just five minutes to see who could eat the most packets of the invasive plant mugwort.
With approximately 2,500 goat-loving community members in attendance, the contest was an adorable, high-drama adventure, and the festival atmosphere included a live brass band, cotton candy, popcorn and ice pops, new goat-themed merchandise, arts and crafts, photo props galore, lawn games, giveaways, educational tabling, goat-milk soap, and much more! Many goat fans came with handmade posters to root for their favorite four-legged competitor.
“For this is a battle of the ages, a battle of the titans,” Shea called out to the crowd, prior to delivering dramatic introductions for each of the five competition goats.
In the end, Mallomar chomped his way to earn the title of 2025 G.O.A.T. Grazer, out-eating his fellow competitors and receiving the ultimate bragging rights.
After their brief stint in the world of competitive eating, the goats have now moved on to their full-time summer jobs tackling a vegetation-covered slope at West 143rd Street and Riverside Drive, where they are feasting upon poison ivy and other invasive plant species – mugwort, multiflora rose and porcelain berry – until the fall.
The goats’ much-anticipated return marks the sixth year of the Conservancy’s Goatham Initiative a novel, pesticide-free method for clearing invasive plants from Riverside Park. Undaunted by steep slopes, goats can navigate terrain that presents a major challenge for human gardeners, removing dense overgrowth and preparing these areas for more ecologically beneficial plantings in the future.
Volunteers are vital to keeping the herd happy and healthy throughout the summer. The Conservancy was fortunate to have about 40 volunteers from Bloomberg assisting our staff and volunteers with crowd control and activities at the event.
On a regular basis, 75 community members are enrolled with the Conservancy as official goat herding volunteers. Goat herders commit to working with staff at least one shift per week (6am or 6pm) to help herd the goats into their nighttime tent, clean the trash from their enclosure, provide fresh water and bedding, check their health and wellbeing, and help maintain their site. These volunteers are one of the great successes of the program, which grows stronger every year.
Ingrid Wright has been volunteering with the goats for four years and is deeply moved by the happiness Goatham brings to New York.
“In a time when so much feels divided or uncertain, there’s something incredibly grounding and healing about seeing animals doing their gentle, purposeful work among us,” she says. “The goats bring people together in such an unexpected way—cutting through tension and difference with humor, presence, and simplicity. They’re like quiet little bridge builders, reminding us of the possibility of connection.”
The contest was a joyful moment for thousands of people during a very challenging summer, but it speaks to the larger joy that Riverside Park — and the goat program in particular — brings to our community.
Goat fans are encouraged to stay tuned for more information on the Conservancy’s new online shop, launching in August! You’ll soon be able to purchase your favorite Goatham apparel to represent the herd wherever you go.