See Argan Tree Climbing Goats of Morocco

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For centuries, the Berbers in the coastal corner of North Africa have followed the goats around as they climbed the spiny, evergreen Argan tress to eat their leaves and leathery olive-sized fruit. Over time they have become not only able to climb trees but make it look easy – the traipse across trees with a sure-footedness that is hard to imagine from a hoofed animal. Instead of the careful climbing one might expect these goats simply hop from one cluster of branches to another in search of food. The Berbers collect the undigested pits that the goats spit up or excrete and split them to extract the bitter kernels inside, which they grind and press to make a nutty oil used in cooking and cosmetics. Argan oil is produced by several women's co-operatives in the southwestern parts of Morocco. The most labour-intensive part of oil-extraction is removal of the soft pulp (used to feed animals) and the cracking by hand, between two stones, of the hard nut. The seeds are then removed and gently roasted. This roasting accounts for part of the oil's distinctive, nutty flavour. The Argan (Argania spinosa) is a species of tree endemic to the calcareous semi-desert Sous valley of southwestern Morocco and to the Algerian region of Tindouf in the western Mediterranean region. Argan grows to 8–10 metres high and live up to 150–200 years. Unfortunately, the Argan tree is slowly being over-harvested so you may have to hurry to see the real thing.

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