Bonn,
1 February 2011 - Ornithologists from the Bulgarian
Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/BirdLife in Bulgaria)
and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) have successfully
fitted six Red-breasted Geese (Branta ruficollis)
with miniature GPS transmitters.

The birds were captured at their traditional
wintering sites near the Shabla and Durankulak lakes in
Bulgaria, close to the Black Sea. It is the first time that
Red-breasted Geese are being monitored via satellite tracking
methods.

Red-breasted Geese are the most threatened
goose species worldwide. In the last decade the species’
population declined by 50% and the most recent counts revealed
that just 40,000 birds are left in the wild. Changes in
agricultural practices following Bulgaria’s accession
to the EU can further aggrevate the status of the species.
Another problem is hunting, not only based on the number
of birds that are directly killed, but also due to the disturbance
that hunting causes. Scared away by the gun fire, the geese
use up their energy reserves that they need for their long
migration back to their breeding grounds in Russia.

Scientists hope that the data collected
by the GPS transmitters fitted to the geese will tell them
more about the species and help to secure their survival
by adapted conservation measures. The activities carried
out in Bulgaria are part of a new EU LIFE project focusing
on the conservation of the wintering population of the Red-breasted
Goose.

Due to their endangered conservation status,
more emphasis has also been placed on Red-breasted Geese
under AEWA. A draft revised International Single Species
Action Plan (SSAP) for the Red-breasted Goose is currently
under revision by AEWA’s Technical Committee.

The SSAP for the Red-breasted Goose was
compiled by WWT, the BirdLife European Division and the
Red-breasted Goose Expert Working Group and jointly commissioned
by the European Commission and the AEWA Secretariat. The
Action Plan has already passed consultations within the
EU framework and will be presented for adoption at the 5th
Meeting of the Parties to AEWA.

For more information please see:

• EU
  LIFE Project Website: Safe Ground for Redbreasts
• BirdLife
  International: Red-breasted Geese to be monitored using
  GPS for the first time
• BBC
  Earth News: A wild, endangered goose chase