San Clemente Island
Have a San Clemente Island to sell? List it.Critical on the Conservation Priority List, 2026 edition
About San Clemente Island goats
San Clemente Island sits about 68 miles off San Diego and belongs to the US Navy. Goats reached it in 1875, moved over from Santa Catalina Island, and were left largely alone. By 1972 a survey counted 15,000 of them and judged them a threat to the island's native plants and wildlife.
What followed decided the breed's fate. The Navy proposed shooting the remaining goats from helicopters. The animal welfare group Fund for Animals blocked it in court, and under the ruling trappers took roughly 3,000 goats off the island alive. Most were placed on condition that the new owners would not breed them, which is close to the opposite of what a rare breed needs. Others went straight off the barges to farms.
A 2007 DNA study by The Livestock Conservancy and the University of Cordoba confirmed the San Clemente Island goat is genetically distinct and unrelated to other breeds.
They are hardy, excellent mothers, and good at clearing brush. One practical point in their favor: the bucks do not carry the scent-gland smell that most buck goats do.
Pigs
Sourced from The Livestock Conservancy and the breed’s registry, reviewed by HoofnHorn.
No San Clemente Island goats at auction right now.
Heritage breeds come up in ones and twos, so this is normal. We will email you the moment a San Clemente Island is listed.