A herd of wild goats is living it up on the deserted streets of the Welsh seaside town of Llandudno while residents stay indoors to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Generally, the herd of roughly 120 Kashmiri goats only ventures into town from the nearby Great Orme headland during bad weather, BBC reported. However, with the coast cleared of people, the goats are out and about town nibbling on hedges and gardens.
“They are curious, goats are, and I think they are wondering what’s going on like everybody else,” town councillor Carol Marubbi told BBC. She said locals were proud of the animals and had been enjoying the “free entertainment” from their windows.
“There isn’t anyone else around so they probably decided they may as well take over,” she said.
Andrew Stuart, who works for the Manchester Evening News, has stepped up to the role of “goat correspondent” (per his Twitter bio) after a number of his photos and videos of the herd went viral.
According to a lengthy tweet thread started last week, Stuart said he originally called the police on the goats for running riot in the town, snacking on hedges in the dark of night and not appearing to abide by social distancing measures.
By Tuesday, the goats appeared to have settled in and were continuing to provide entertainment for those in the town and following them online.
One local hotel, the Landsdowne House Llandudno, bemoaned the fact it had no guests except for members of the herd, who “expect to stay and eat for free!”
“At least they use the parking white lines to respect 2m Social Distancing!” the hotel wrote.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, ordered a nationwide lockdown last week. Nonessential businesses have been shuttered, and residents are not to leave their homes except to collect essential supplies and exercise once daily.
Police have power to fine those who don’t comply and to disperse groups of more than two people.
On Tuesday, the U.K. had confirmed 25,481 cases of the new coronavirus and recorded 1,793 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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