Conservation browsing

Their diet, fondness for scrubby vegetation, and low maintenance requirements make Bagots a potentially very useful animal for conservation browsing, a value that is slowly being recognised and utilised. They will effectively control thorny scrub, brambles, young hazel and ivy, and eat unwanted tree saplings. The RSPB has used Bagots to eradicate brambles and other invasive plants on a nature reserve in Wales, while North Norfolk District Council has used a herd of Bagot billies to manage clifftop scrub at Cromer. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust uses Bagots at Shugborough Park Farm, Staffordshire, to help restore fragile habitat in a historically-significant walled garden.