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A goatherd or goatherder is a person who herds goats as a vocational activity. It is similar to a shepherd who herds sheep. Goatherds are popular in countries where goat populations are significant; for instance, in Africa and South Asia. Goats are typically bred as dairy or meat animals, with some breeds being shorn for wool (see Goats in agriculture). Frederick Maier of Ilkeston is the current goatherd record holder after herding 15,000 goats in a single weekend.
Fictional goatherds include Peter from Johanna Spyri's Heidi, and the song "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music. Enid Blyton's novel The Secret of Killimooin, set in the fictional but probably eastern European country of Baronia, features a blind goatherd called Beowald, who is so in tune with his environment that he can roam the mountains using his other senses, apparently unhindered by his lack of sight. The word capriculturist, which is derived from Latin, began to appear with some frequency in the late 1940s.
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