The Royal Origins
The Great Orme's most famous residents did not originate on the headland. The Kashmiri goats — a long-haired mountain breed also known as Pashmina goats — have their roots in a royal gift from the 1830s. A pair of the animals was presented to Queen Victoria by the Shah of Persia in 1837, at the very beginning of her reign. After spending time at Windsor, the goats were eventually transferred to the Great Orme, where they joined a small existing feral population and began the dynasty that persists to this day.
The herd has lived largely wild on the headland ever since, with minimal human management beyond occasional interventions to control numbers or deal with welfare concerns. Today the herd numbers around 200 animals, though the exact count varies from year to year. The goats are most visible on the upper slopes and summit plateau of the Great Orme, where they graze the limestone grassland and pick their way across rock faces with remarkable sure-footedness. Encountering a herd of 30 or 40 of them on a quiet morning walk is one of the unexpected pleasures of the headland.
The Covid Lockdown Story
In spring 2020, with the UK in lockdown and Llandudno's streets entirely devoid of visitors, the Great Orme goats made an unexpected appearance in the town below. The absence of the human activity that normally kept them on the headland — walkers, cyclists, vehicles on the Marine Drive — gave the animals the confidence to descend into the residential streets of the town. They were photographed eating garden hedges, investigating shop fronts, and strolling along the normally busy promenade in confident groups.
The images, shared on social media by local residents, spread around the world within hours. In a period of global anxiety, the sight of a herd of shaggy mountain goats casually occupying a deserted seaside resort was exactly the kind of absurdist joy people needed. The story was picked up by news organisations from New York to Sydney, and the Great Orme goats briefly became one of the most recognisable animal populations on the planet. Their visit to Llandudno lasted only a few weeks before human activity resumed and the goats retreated to their normal territory on the headland; but the story cemented their place in the town's folklore.
Seeing the Goats
The goats are present on the Great Orme year-round, and most visitors who walk any distance onto the headland will encounter them. They are most reliably found on the summit plateau and the upper western slopes, though in quieter periods they range more widely. The tramway and cable car both pass through goat territory, and sightings from the gondolas and tram windows are common.
The goats are accustomed to human presence and generally go about their grazing unperturbed by walkers passing at a reasonable distance. However, they are wild animals, not a petting zoo, and should not be fed — human food is not good for them and habituating them to feeding creates problems for the herd's management. Dogs must be kept on leads on the Great Orme, both for the sake of the goats and because the terrain includes unfenced cliff edges. During the lambing season in spring, it is particularly important to keep dogs under close control.
The large males are the most impressive animals to observe, carrying long curved horns and shaggy white or grey coats. The females and young are smaller and often more confident around walkers. The best time for extended goat-watching is early morning, before the tramway and cable car begin running and the headland is quieter. Bring binoculars for views of groups on the distant slopes.
The Great Orme and Its Wildlife
The goats are the most dramatic of the Great Orme's wildlife, but the headland supports a remarkable range of other species. The limestone grassland is home to unusual wildflowers including the Great Orme berry, a rare cotoneaster found nowhere else in the wild. Spring brings carpets of cowslips, early purple orchids and spring squill; summer adds common spotted orchid, thyme and a range of chalk-loving plants not found on the acidic hillsides of inland North Wales.
The sea cliffs support nesting seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills and fulmars on the more remote sections of the northern and western faces. Peregrine falcons hunt over the headland, and red kites are increasingly regular visitors to the area. The grassland supports good numbers of skylarks, meadow pipits and in spring, migrant wheatears using the headland as a staging post on their journeys north. The nature reserve interpretation centre has more detail on what to look for and when.
Day trips