The pygmy goat was originally called the Cameroon Dwarf Goat. The goat (in its pure form gray in color with black stockings and very small in size) is mostly restricted to the to the West African countries. Similar forms of Pygmy goats also occur in all of northern Africa, in the south western African countries, also in East Africa.
The little Cameroon goats were exported from the Africa zoos in Sweden and Germany where they were on display as exotic animals. From there they made their way to England, Canada, and the United States. In 1959, the Rhue family (California) and the Catskill Game Farm (New York) recieved the first documented shipmentsof Pygmy goats from Sweden. These original animals were purchased from German zoos and through a complicated arrangement of transporting them to Sweden, a country that was on the approved list for imports by the United States Department of Agriculture, they were allowed into the United States. Offspring of these animals, as well as earlier imports, were sold to zoos, medical research, and to some private individuals.
By the 1970's, interest in the Pygmy goat began to grow to the point that registries for Pygmy goats were established to define breed type and to encourage the breeding of pure Pygmies. In 1975, the incorporated National Pygmy Goat Association was formed.
In the 1980's, the Pygmy goat population began to experience a significant increase, as did membership in the National Pygmy Goat Association. Today, as the number of goats increases, so do the number of shows in which they can be exhibited.
