Hawaii conducts a Lottery with a unique prize - goats

Goats have completely overrun Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park in Hawaii, and locals are at risk of losing the site to billy and nannies. However, Hawaii officials have come up with a unique plan of keeping the park alive by offering up goats as Lottery winnings. And not just a couple - as many as 700.  

Participants simply have to apply for permits before the Lottery takes place on July 28, after which the winners will be chosen randomly.  What’s more exciting is that lucky winners will get to leave with as many as 50 goats! The lowest “payout” will still be pretty generous and will require a considerably large vehicle to escort 25 animals to a new home. 

Division of Forestry and Wildlife of Hawaii will announce the winners of the Lottery online on the day after the drawing. The winners will be randomly chosen for 30-minute slots on the day of the distribution. That same day the Lottery will distribute the goats among the winners. 

Those who win the prize are required to haul the goats with a 16-foot (4.87-meter) enclosed horse trailer or equivalent and can lose the opportunity to collect the “winnings” if the trailer isn’t secure enough for transportation. A permit can be 

Sadly, participants won’t get to pick and choose and can only request the number of goats they wish to acquire when signing up for the Lottery permit. Regardless, several dozens of goats should offer quite a variety without the need for cherry-picking. 

Keeping cultural resources nice and tidy is an essential part of keeping history alive. It’s much better to have Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park available for see sighting rather than resorting to honoring its memory in textbooks. 

Goats will be captured and transferred away from the park, and the location will be closed on August 11, 2021. This 420-acre park is approximately as massive as 181.5 football fields. Eight goats need a whole acre of land to live comfortably and have enough food. So 700 goats for 420 acres indicates that it’s time to take action. 

Goats are great for producing milk and cheese, fertilizer, nice goat curry for dinner, and more. So in this Lottery - everybody wins. The participants who get drawn will have an opportunity to make some extra money with the new “pets,” and the Lottery operators will get to clear out the national park without having to gun down all the goats.