Goose cull deemed unnecessary amid calls for mass shooting to end

 31/10/2018

New scientific studies have concluded that the shooting of thousands of Barnacle Geese in Scotland is founded on poor science. The killing spree on Islay leaves many of the geese to suffer a slow death, as well as contaminating the environment. As a result, the mass culling has been deemed unnecessary, unsustainable and a waste of money by independent ornithological experts, who have called for the shooting to cease.

Every winter Islay hosts up to 50,000 Barnacle Geese – roughly 60 per cent of the global population – which arrive from Greenland to feed on grasses grown for livestock consumption. They are joined by around a quarter of the world's threatened Greenland White-fronted Geese. Such densities of both species on the island render the populations as internationally important, but despite this Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) arrange an annual shooting and in 2015 laid out a scheme to increase the number of birds killed.

Farmers receive almost £1,000,000 per year to compensate for the damage caused by the geese, but they claim that increasing numbers mean the birds must be culled, and that the hundreds of thousands of pounds provided annually to recompense them must also continue. SNH and farmers argue that both the mass slaughter and compensation is required to avoid agricultural damage and to protect businesses.

Under the 2015 scheme agreed by SNH increasing numbers of Barnacle Geese are being shot; during the last three years more than 8,200 have been killed, including 3,321 alone last winter. Goose experts Dr Steve Percival and Dr Eric Bignal have explained that the scheme is fundamentally flawed and said: "The current scheme is not sustainable, cannot be demonstrated to deliver the best value for money, is raising animal welfare issues and is creating a long-term lead-poisoning risk to birds, other wild animals and livestock."

The killing is sometimes done with a single-pump shotgun, and hundreds of birds are wounded rather than being killed outright, leaving them to die a slow and painful death. SNH admitted that this could happen to 10 per cent of birds shot, but the true proportion is likely to be higher, with Percvial and Bignal highlighting evidence to suggest this. The pair were critical of the frequent use of lead shot, which could pollute the water and soil, leaving other wildlife at risk.

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In a warming climate, Arctic geese are rushing north

Date:  July 19, 2018

Source:  Cell Press

Summary:

As Arctic temperatures continue to rise, migratory barnacle geese have responded by speeding up their 3,000-kilometer migration in order to reach their destination more quickly with fewer stops along the way, according to new evidence. Unfortunately, the birds' earlier arrival isn't making as much of a difference as one might expect.

As Arctic temperatures continue to rise, migratory barnacle geese have responded by speeding up their 3,000-kilometer migration in order to reach their destination more quickly with fewer stops along the way, according to new evidence reported in Current Biology on July 19. Unfortunately, the birds' earlier arrival isn't making as much of a difference as one might expect. That's because, when the geese reach their Arctic breeding grounds after an accelerated marathon flight, they must take extra time to refuel their own bodies before laying eggs.

As a result of this recovery period, barnacle goose chicks continue to hatch too late to take advantage of early spring foraging opportunities. The new study shows that fewer of them are surviving long enough to leave their mothers' sides and make the trek on their own. The findings suggest that the birds are in trouble unless they start heading north for the Arctic earlier in the year, as opposed to speeding up their travel along the way, the researchers say.

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Record number of barnacle geese arrive in Dumfries and Galloway

11th November

Gordon Davidson

News & Online Editor

A RECORD number of barnacle geese have arrived at RSPB Scotland's Mersehead reserve in Dumfries and Galloway this autumn – 11,070 – rising from their 2016 peak of 10,035.

RSPB Scotland described the numbers as a 'great sign' that the Solway population of barnacle geese is continuing to recover, after hitting a low point of only around 400 birds just after the Second World War.

Barnacle geese are black and white birds, with a call a bit like a dog barking, which winter at sites around the Solway before returning to their Arctic breeding grounds 2000 miles away in Svalbard in the spring.

Eagle-eyed nature lovers may also spot one or two white geese in with the flock at Mersehead, which are barnacle geese with a condition called leucism. Similar to albinism, these leucistic birds have extremely pale, almost white plumage, but unlike true albino birds, which are extremely rare in the wild, they have black eyes, beaks and legs. Only two leucistic barnacle geese have been seen at Mersehead this autumn, though in previous years up to four have been recorded.

RSPB Scotland warden at Mersehead, Rowena Flavelle, said: “It’s great to see the geese back, and fantastic to see the population doing so well. We always look forward to seeing them on the reserve, and when you hear them coming in, you know that autumn has well and truly arrived.

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Can barnacle geese predict the climate?

Unpredictable warming spells 'problems' for Arctic-breeding migratory birds

Date: April 18, 2017

Source: Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW)

The breeding grounds of Arctic migratory birds such as the barnacle goose are changing rapidly due to accelerated warming in the polar regions. They won't be able to keep up with this climate change unless they can somehow anticipate it. A research team from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) employed computer models to assess the future of the geese and their young. Results are being published online by the scientific journal Global Change Biology.

It's the time of year when barnacle geese and many other migratory birds prepare to depart for their breeding grounds above the Arctic Circle. From their wintering grounds in the Netherlands, the geese fly all the way up to the Barentsz Sea in northern Russia, where they should arrive just as the snow has melted. But in the polar regions, the climate is warming much more rapidly than in more temperate areas like the Netherlands -- a phenomenon known as 'Arctic amplification'.

It's hard enough for humans to get to grips with the accelerated warming, let alone for barnacle geese, as an earlier NIOO-led study showed. After all, how can they tell from their wintering grounds if the snow has begun to melt thousands of kilometres away? So is it possible for the barnacle geese to advance their spring migration nonetheless, to predict climate change?

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