The Savanna goat is an all-white goat breed developed in the 1950s in South Africa from indigenous goats. The origin of the breed is credited to Lubbe Cilliers since he selected completely white goats from native bush goats crossed with his white stud buck. 

His selection criteria primarily included hardiness, adaptability, and survivability in his harsh environment and climate. The goats experienced severe, fluctuating environmental conditions as the breed was being developed. As a result,  the natural selection process yielded hardy,adaptable, low-maintenance, and  prolific goats.

By the early 1990s, the Savanna goat had distinguished itself into unique breed, culminating in developing a breed association known as the Savanna Goat Breeders Society. This association established a set of breed standards. Savanna goats are heavily muscled and have an excellent rate of gain. In addition, they have good bone coupled with strong legs and hooves. The goats have white hair with dark-pigmented skin, horns, and hooves to prevent damage by the sun’s strong UV rays.

Importation into North America

The first Savannas were imported into the United States in 1994 by Jürgen Schulz (JCS farm) via the famous CODI/PCI Boer goat flight. After carefully selecting and breeding the Savannas for several years, he eventually sold his 32 Savannas in the late ’90s at his Kifaru dispersion sale. Following the sale, each buyer received a certificate and pedigree of the goat’s breeding. These buyers enlisted Pedigree International in 2000 to maintain a herd book to track this rare breed of goats. 

Two more farms, Keri-Rose Consulting (KRI) and Denise Peterson (Amore Arts Farm), imported frozen embryos from South Africa in 2000/2001 to enlarge and diversify the Savanna gene pool in North America with the resulting 8 goats.

Finally, in 2006 Kenneth Mincey arranged for frozen embryos from South Africa to be transferred into recipient goats in Australia. The resulting 21 Savanna goats were eventually imported to his Georgia farm (MGF) in 2010. He then performed embryo transfer to increase his numbers. 

These importations were the only sources of Savannas into North America since any new genetic material is now banned under governing laws. The original importers maintained the original selection criteria to continue the hardy meat goat’s attributes. 

Those involved with the Savanna goat quickly noticed that 50% Savanna kids were faster to get up and nurse than their other goats. This factor has contributed to the ever-increasing market demand for the Savanna goat.