The reproductive performance of goats in a South African semi-arid savanna

The dry season coupled with large group size may negatively affect reproductive success of group living mammals in semi-arid environments. We determined the reproductive success of goats between seasons and herd sizes in a semi-arid savanna at Msinga, South Africa. To do this, we used 17 herds to count the number of adult females, kid births and mortalities in the wet and dry seasons of 2017–2018. We found that small and large herds had a significantly greater reproductive performance in the wet than dry season, and this was greater in small than large herds. Kid mortalities (44.0%) for both herds across seasons resulted in decreased kidding success. Abortions (7.0%) in both herds across seasons also contributed negatively to kidding success. Ultimately, kidding success was 80.0 and 14.0% in small herds and 65.4 and 39.8% in large herds in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Our results indicate that goats in semi-arid environments have a poor reproductive performance which may be exacerbated by effects of the dry season. The provision of supplementary feeds may improve the poor survival of kids in semi-arid areas. •Reproductive success was low throughout the year for free-ranging domestic goats in semi-arid communal areas.•Kid mortalities and abortions were prevalent in free-ranging domestic goats in semi-arid Msinga.•The dry season (limiting forage resources) may impede on production of small-scale goat farmers in semi-arid areas.•First time mothers may be prone to kid losses before and after birth in the dry season.