Director
Thomas S. Carter
Mertzon, TX
325/835-2692
Tom received his B.S. from The University of Texas, Austin (math and chemistry) with Ed. Certification. He operates 35,000+ acres of semi-desert ranch land in Irion & Somervell Counties, Texas having run 5000+ sheep, 2500+ meat goats, 550+ cows & 65+ horses in the past. He ran the largest (2nd generation from wild caught) closed herd of Arabian Oryx (Cites Appendix I, US Endangered) of which 157 adults were returned to the Court of the Crown Prince of the UAE via four 747 loads to re-establish the species in the wild.
Tom has had and bred some of the largest breeding groups of rare and endangered species including Slender-horned Gazelle, Onagers, Cretan Bezoar Ibex, Blue-billed Curassow, Montezuma Quail, Socorro Island Dove (extinct in the wild), Ocellated Turkey, Masked Bobwhite Quail, Phantom Sheep, Transcaspian Urial Sheep, and others. Tom has heritage CTLR Texas Longhorn cattle, which are 100% (where possible) DNA tested with scores above 90 & 95% conservation genetics by the UC Davis Breed Assignment, and the low to mid 20’s indicine percentage according to the CTLR analysis developed by Emily J. McTavish, PhD and April Wright, PhD at the University of Texas, Austin.
Tom has been a field cooperator in animal health research with Drs. Charles Livingston, Mac McConnell, Tom Bunch, Gar Workman, Andres de la Concha, Jennifer Chatfield, and Richard Mock. He was awarded Conservation Rancher of the Year by NRCS. He served on all available advisory and tax boards & the FSA at the county level. Tom is a founding member and 1st President of the American Meat Goat Assn. (now disbanded as the precursor to ABGA). He is an advanced collector of 10 of the 15 top machine guns of the world, rare coins of the US & world, Native American points and artifacts & western art.
