Cape Barren goose family outing, The Nobbies. Photo: Paul Cummings By Catherine Watson
SOUTH Australia’s Cape Barren geese population has taken a dive, raising fears for the long-term survival of the threatened species.
A 30 per cent decline since 2001 is thought to be linked to the recent bushfires on Kangaroo Island and a decline in dairy farming in the Lower Lakes area.
After being hunted almost to the point of extinction in the 1950s, the geese are now listed as vulnerable nationally and rare in South Australia.
If South Australia’s Cape Barren geese numbers are declining, perhaps they’ve joined the exodus to Phillip Island, where the geese flock is thriving.
SOUTH Australia’s Cape Barren geese population has taken a dive, raising fears for the long-term survival of the threatened species.
A 30 per cent decline since 2001 is thought to be linked to the recent bushfires on Kangaroo Island and a decline in dairy farming in the Lower Lakes area.
After being hunted almost to the point of extinction in the 1950s, the geese are now listed as vulnerable nationally and rare in South Australia.
If South Australia’s Cape Barren geese numbers are declining, perhaps they’ve joined the exodus to Phillip Island, where the geese flock is thriving.
Six geese were released on the island in 1984 as part of a national bird recovery program. By 2009 that number had grown to 500 and in the past 10 years to more than 3000.
The stately big birds with the unhurried gait have become a feature of the island, a source of great interest for visitors and photographers, but the bane of graziers because of their liking for fresh pastures. Principals and greenkeepers also object to the way they shit all over playing fields.
Various solutions have been suggested including shooting the birds (illegal) and robbing the nests (also illegal).
Long-time farmers Anne and Bob Davie have not observed any drop in geese numbers on their Ventnor farm. “I see quite a few geese couples and families out together,” Anne told the Post.
“It does make it difficult because they want to go to where the pastures are good. They’re not silly. When we put in a crop they’re pretty much onto it straight away.”
The explosion in Phillip Island’s flock is thought to be linked to the eradication of foxes from Phillip Island. “The law of unintended consequences,” comments Anne, a long-time member of the Phillip Island Conservation Society.
Phillip Island Nature Parks (PINP) undertook a study of the impact of wildlife on forage crops and found geese were indeed the main culprits.
A goose consortium (PINP, Bass Coast Shire Council, the Bunurong Land Council and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) was set up in 2019 to devise a management strategy.
A geese management solution is proposed in PINP’s new wildlife management plan but its release has been delayed by Covid.
The stately big birds with the unhurried gait have become a feature of the island, a source of great interest for visitors and photographers, but the bane of graziers because of their liking for fresh pastures. Principals and greenkeepers also object to the way they shit all over playing fields.
Various solutions have been suggested including shooting the birds (illegal) and robbing the nests (also illegal).
Long-time farmers Anne and Bob Davie have not observed any drop in geese numbers on their Ventnor farm. “I see quite a few geese couples and families out together,” Anne told the Post.
“It does make it difficult because they want to go to where the pastures are good. They’re not silly. When we put in a crop they’re pretty much onto it straight away.”
The explosion in Phillip Island’s flock is thought to be linked to the eradication of foxes from Phillip Island. “The law of unintended consequences,” comments Anne, a long-time member of the Phillip Island Conservation Society.
Phillip Island Nature Parks (PINP) undertook a study of the impact of wildlife on forage crops and found geese were indeed the main culprits.
A goose consortium (PINP, Bass Coast Shire Council, the Bunurong Land Council and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) was set up in 2019 to devise a management strategy.
A geese management solution is proposed in PINP’s new wildlife management plan but its release has been delayed by Covid.