Libya has 2.5 million heads of goat. Libyan local goats (Mahali) represent more than 90% of total goat population. Mahali goat breed is kept mainly for meat production. Goats are medium in size of different colors, black, brown, red, grey, white or mixture of these colors. Horns are quite large extending sideward in bucks and short in does. Other breeds - like Targhai and Tibawi breeds- are concentrated mainly in the southern region. Production systems are based on rain-fed rangeland
and crop residues. Small scale of forage production is practiced especially in southern region. The precarity of these production systems leads to dependence on supplements with imported concentrates. Goats graze together in flocks of different sheep-to-goat ratios but usually with more sheep than goats. Flocks composed of only goats are common in mountainous region of Jabal Al-Akhdar in the east or Nafusa in the west of Libya. Damascus, Murciano-Grandina, French Alpine and Saanen goats were imported (mainly to research stations) in order to study the productivity of their crossings with Mahali goat. Productivity, crossing results and production constraints of Mahali goats are reviewed and discussed.Libija ima 2,5 milijuna koza. Libijske domaće koze (Mahali) čine više od 90% ukupne populacije koza. Mahali pasmina koza uzgaja se uglavnom radi mesa. Koze su srednje veličine u više boja: crne, smeđe, crvene, sive, bijele ili mješavine tih boja. Rogovi su prilično veliki i šire se bočno kod jarčeva, a kratki su kod koza. Druge pasmine, poput pasmina Targhai i Tibawi, uglavnom su koncentrirane o južnom
dijelu. Proizvodni sustavi temelje se na kišnom području i ostacima usjeva. Skromna proizvodnja krmiva postoji osobito na jugu. Nesigurnost tih proizvodnih sustava dovodi do ovisnosti o dodavanju uvoznih koncentrata. Koze pasu u stadima različitog omjera ovca-koza, ali obično više ovaca nego koza. Stada sastavljena samo od koza česta su u planinskom području Jabal Al-Akbdar na istoku ili Nafusa na
zapadu Libije. Koze Damascus, Murciano-Grandina, Alpina i Sanska koza uvezene su (uglavnom u istraživačke stanice) radi proučavanja proizvodnosti njihovih križanaca s Mahali kozom. Proizvodnost i proizvodna ograničenja Mahali koza predmet su izlaganja i rasprave
