The Cape Barren Goose in Victoria, Australia: manage­
ment related to agriculture
D. F. D O R W A R D ,
F. I. N O R M A N a n d S. J. C O W L I N G
Introduction
T here are four populations of the Cape
B arren G oose Cereopsis novaehollandiae
in the coastal regions of southern A ustralia
(Figure 1). D orw ard (1967) estim ated the
world population at about 5,300, of which
4.000 (G uiler 1965) w ere on the islands of
the Furneaux G roup in Bass Strait, T asm a­
nia. Lesser num bers were to be found on
islands off W ilson’s P rom ontory, Victoria
(about 200); on islands in Spencer G ulf and
around the C ape Y ork Peninsula, South
A ustralia (about 1,000); and on the
R echerche A rchipelago islands, W estern
A ustralia (about 100).
Both the Furneaux G roup and South
A ustralia now have m any m ore birds in
flocks, although we think it unlikely that
the breeding pairs on the small islands have
increased proportionately. The world total
is probably now in excess of ten thousand
(Pearse, 1975, suggests 15,000), and
perhaps a third of these visit farm lands,
mostly on Flinders Island, Furneaux G p .,
and in South A ustralia (where the figure of
10.000 suggested by K ear & Williams
(1978) requires closer investigation).
In contrast the num ber of geese in Vic­
toria is still small. D uring sum m er up to
200 regularly appear in the w estern district.
T here are still about 100 breeding pairs on
the islands off W ilson’s P rom ontory, as
there w ere at the first estim ate (D orw ard
& Pizzey 1965). Y ear-round observations
on the islands show that m ost breeding
adults rem ain perm anently in their territo r­
ies. This nucleus has given rise to a flock of
birds at Y anakie on the nearby m ainland
(Figure 2) which started as six about 1950
and has gradually increase to about 300. It
has included young birds m arked on the
islands. O ne m arked bird from South A u ­
stralia was seen in 1974 but we believe the
increase is a result not of im m igration but
because availability of pasture on the m ain­
land has im proved the survival of im m a­
ture birds from the islands. This has given
rise to com plaints by farm ers whose pas­
tures are visited. W e have attem pted to
assess and deal with the situation in V ictor­
ia, and to offer an answer to the problem ,
frequently raised, of how much geese eat in
144
W ildfowl 31 (1980): 144-50
com parison with dom estic stock. Scientists
have hitherto failed to give a satisfactory
and com prehensible answer and farm ers,
probably as a direct result, have w idened
their claims of dam age to include other
alleged problem s, such as fouling of graz­
ing and w ater-holes and the transm ission of
disease. Similar problem s have arisen on
H inders Island (G uiler 1974; Pearse 1975).
T he short open season declared in F eb ru ­
ary 1977 may tem porarily have alleviated
the farm ers’ difficulties but we believe
that a different long-term approach is
required.
Management
M arriott (1970) and M arriott & Forbes
(1970) show ed th at during the dry season
the preferred food (green vegetation) on
the islands decreases, and so the m ainland
pastures becom e relatively very attractive.
The birds regularly congregate to feed in
certain small areas w here the pasture is of
highest nitrogen content and greatest
digestibility. Ow en (1975a) has shown ex­
perim entally th at wild W hite-fronted
Geese A n ser a. albifrons have strong p re­
ferences for such areas, which are of course
also particularly valuable to farm ers.
In 1967 an attem pt was m ade to reduce
the alleged dam age w ithout at the same
tim e harm ing the small goose population.
Fox-proof pens, approxim ately 0-5 ha in
area with a fence 2 m high, w ere built, one
in a field n ear Shallow Inlet (Y anakie)
which the geese regularly visited and two
others ab o u t 15 km north-east and south­
west. T he aim was to use pairs of pinioned
captive geese to attract the wild geese away
from places w here they were a cause for
com plaint on to the properties of farm ers
who would welcome them . Land-holders
undertook to m aintain short pasture
around the pens; to allow official access; to
keep adequate records; and to advise on
problem s associated with the pens. The
V ictorian Fisheries & Wildlife Division
w ere responsible for m aintaining the pens,
for providing food and w ater within them ,
and for scaring geese from some surround­
ing farms with the object of reinforcing the
The Cape Barren G oose in Victoria, Australia
0
1000 m iles
0
1600 k ilo m e tre s
145
Figure 1. Map showing range of Cape Barren Goose and (lower) coastal regions of south-east
Australia.
Figure 2. Cape Barren Geese on a mainland pasture at Yanakie near Wilson’s promontory. The
distance to the fence and scrub is foreshortened; the geese usually stay well out in open fields.
attractiveness of the feeding zones around
the pens. It was intended that young birds
bred in the pens would be allowed to fly
freely and thus im prove the decoying
effect.
Few of th e desired results were
achieved. The pens’ fencing was continual­
ly dam aged by stock. The attraction of the
penned geese was not strong. Farm ers did
not keep the pasture around the pens
short, and a rapid deterioration in the price
of wool led to m ore cattle being carried,
with consequent changes in the type of
grazing.
Breeding in the pens was unexpectedly
poor, probably due to disturbance by
foxes. Finally a pair with three young
goslings were placed in one pen; after they
fledged the m arked young were seen for
several weeks some 10 km away but not
with the wild flock. W hen shot at one
returned briefly to its natal area.
G eese responded to gunshot by moving,
but only for short distances, and they per­
sistently cam e back.
N ew ton & C am pbell (1973) had found
that certain farms in Scotland w ere highly
attractive to A n ser spp. and suffered much
dam age, while others nearby w ere alm ost
ignored. C ape B arren G eese congregated
in areas th a t, first, had a roost nearby, on
low m ud islets in an estuary. This offered a
protection at night against the num erous
foxes in the area. Second, the pasture area
was mostly flat, with no hedges and few
shelter belts and fields divided by wire
fences. E n tire farm s (varying from about
100 to about 1,000 ha) would ap p ear to the
geese as one large pasture differing only in
quality from place to place. T hird, the
pastures w ere fertilized and green. M ar­
riott (1970) showed th at Cape B arren
G eese eat the same pasture plants as
sheep, but differ in being unable to digest
fibre. T h ere was no selection of plant
species w ithin these green areas.
147
The Cape Barren G oose in Victoria, Australia
Amount of food eaten by geese in
comparison with stock
Various m ethods have been used to esti­
m ate the am ount of food eaten by geese
(e.g. K ear 1970; O w en 1972; E bbinge et al.
1975), but we have found no d ata on how
much geese eat in com parison with their
com petitors, sheep and cattle. D irect com ­
parisons of weights, or of the m etabolic
body weight cannot be m ade because of
differences in digestive capabilities. Cape
Barren G eese are much greater com peti­
tors with livestock than their body weights
would suggest (Table 1).
M arriott & Forbes (1970) com pared the
intakes of sheep and captive C ape B arren
G eese fed on a nearly identical diet of
lucerne chaff, but concluded only that
geese ate relatively large am ounts because
of the differences in both intake and diges­
tive capabilities of the two species.
T he essential basis of our com parison is
the average daily intake of dry m atter.
M arriott & Forbes figures show ed that
captive Cape B arren G eese ate 322 g/day.
For m erino sheep on the same diet M cIn­
tosh (1966) gave 1,233 g/day and Forbes &
Tribe (1970) 1,276 g/day.
M arriott & Forbes (1970) also exam ined
digestibility and rates of passage of food in
Cape B arren G eese and sheep. T he dry
m atter intake (grams per day p er kilogram
of metabolic body w eight) for sheep was
only about half th a t for geese, while the
digestibility was m ore than double. As a
corollary, the retention and excretion
times were about thirty tim es g reater in
sheep. T he im portant point, as has been
noted in oth er geese (M attocks 1971;
Ebbinge et al. 1975), is that the geese did
not digest any cellulose.
T he com parisons indicate th at about
four Cape B arren G eese eat as much as
one sheep. O w en (1972) cites four sheep as
having an intake equivalent to one cow, so
about sixteen geese are needed to eat as
much as one cow. A note of caution must
be sounded in that gut developm ent in
captive geese may only be half that in the
wild (Ow en 1975b). This m ust affect their
digestive capacity and the true ratio may be
6 to 8 geese p er sheep. F arm ers, experi­
enced in gauging carrying capacity in term s
of their dom estic stock, readily appreciate
goose/sheep/cow com parisons though they
Table 1. Comparison of feeding o f Cape Barren Geese and sheep on a diet of Lucerne chaff. Figures in
brackets are standard deviations.
C ape B arren
G oosef
Sheep
(ii)§
R atio
g o o se:sh eep (i)
3-56
(0-63)
(i)t
51-3
(4-91)
2-59
19-17
M ean dry m atter
intake/day (g)
322
(73-54)
1,232-5
(101-26)
M ean daily dry m atter
intake (g/d/W 0'75)
123-9
(27-09)
69-75
(5-86)
66-5
(9-94)
1:0-56
% digested||
25-35
(6-41)
57-03
(1-4)
57-93
(2-14)
1:2-25
M ean retention tim e
(hours)
1-30
(0-33)
38-05
(1-87)
52-2
(8-6)
1:29-3
90% excretion tim e
2-16
(0-30)
68-511
(2-74)
88-7
(15-53)
1:31-7
M ean body
weight (kg)
M ean m etabolic
body weight* (kg)
51-4
(1-22)
1:14
19-20
1:7-4
1,276
(189-5)
* E quals W0'75 (see Ebbinge et al., 1975).
t M arriott (1970), n = 8.
t M cIntosh (1966), n = 4.
§ Forbes and T ribe (1970), n = 3.
II Coefficient of apparent dry m atter digestibility (% ) (M arriott 1970) is
dry m atter intake - dry m atter in droppings
dry m atter intake
H M cIntosh (1966) actually gives figures for 95% excretion time.
100
1
1:3-8
148
D . F. D orw ard, F. I. N orm an and S. J. Cowling
have little idea of daily intakes or pasture
yields in term s of grams/m2, w et or dry.
‘Fouling’ of pastures and drinking places
A nother frequent com plaint is th at Cape
B arren G eese droppings m ake pastures
and drinking places unpalatable to stock.
M arriott’s (1973) experim ents indicated
that sheep did not obviously avoid areas
‘fouled’ by goose droppings but he did
suggest that avoidance could occur where
there was a dense concentration, as for
instance round w ater-holes and troughs.
Since the presence of goose droppings in
drinking places clearly irritated farm ers,
‘g o ose-proof covers for standard w ater
troughs w ere designed and built by C.
N ancarrow of the Fisheries and Wildlife
Division (Figure 3). T he devices prevent
geese defaecating into the troughs, because
they cannot stand on the edges o r on the
baffles.
In the tru e geese of the northern hem i­
sphere, R ochard & K ear (1970) dem on­
strated that th e presum ed chemical factor
was transient because only droppings less
than one day old had repellent effect on
sheep. The possibility rem ains that the
appearance of fresh droppings each day,
even at low density, could have a repellent
effect over a longer tim e. Cape B arren
G eese habitually frequent the same pieces
of pasture and the same w aterholes for
weeks on end.
Ow en (1972) has shown that W hite-
Figure 3. ‘Goose-baffle’. The plates are of 3 mm
mild steel, and are too narrow for geese to perch
on.
fronted G eese spend up to 25% of theii
non-feeding activity drinking. Presumably
the problem in respect of the C ape Barren
G oose is not th at it drinks m ore than other
geese b ut th at w ater is less widely available
to it in the h o t dry dum m ers (D orw ard
1977a).
Harbouring of disease
In one case there were four unexplained
deaths o f calves, with sym ptom s of ‘scour­
ing’, in paddocks frequented by geese. The
farm er suggested th at a coccidial disease
originated from or was transm itted by the
geese. H ow ever, according to Jones (1967)
Eimeria coccidia are found in nearly all
dom estic animals (including geese) but are
host-specific. H ence, although geese may
have acted as passive vectors (as might any
other birds, m achinery, or farm w orkers
them selves) it seems unlikely th at they
were a source of the disease.
Protection and refuges
The C ape B arren G eese in the situations
described above perm it the approach of a
farm vehicle to within 50 m etres before
taking off and flying low and in leisurely
fashion to a neighbouring field. Presum ­
ably this is because they are shot at infre­
quently. W e think th at if legal protection
was rem oved they might quickly becom e
timid. F or instance, it was rep o rted that on
the first day of the open season on Flinders
Islands, 1977, the geese w ere an easy target
but less so by the second w eek-end.
T he Cape B arren G eese are noticeably
m ore tim id on their V ictorian breeding
islands than on m ainland pastures. This
may be because th e form er are adults and
the latter im m atures or because geese
have, at least until recently, been shot at
on the islands by visiting fisherm en.
O w en (1973) found a significant negative
correlation betw een ‘goose usage’ and an
‘avoidance index’ which included distance
from roads and frequency of shepherding.
A ustralian farm ers do not shepherd their
stock and the birds are very little disturbed
by farm ing activities. H ow ever, it is notice­
able th at the geese do not favour areas
close to roads.
O w en (1977) advocated the creation and
m anagem ent of refuges to safeguard goose
populations and lessen conflicts with agri­
cultural interests, a view which we strongly
The Cape Barren G oose in Victoria, Australia
indorse for the situation in V ictoria. The
jroblem s in respect to the C ape B arren
jo o s e , at least in this p art of its range, are
hus very similar to those involving other
;pecies elsew here, particularly at Loch
Leven (N ew ton & Cam pbell 1973) and
:ven m ore so at C aerlaverock and Slimiridge (O w en 1977).
T here are differences in the A ustralian
situation. T he num ber of C ape B arren
Geese in our area of study is only about
300, instead of the many thousands of
geese wintering in B ritain. B ut it is re­
levant to note that in the G reylag Anser
anser and Pinkfoot A . brachyrhynchus the
flocks feeding on any given area mostly
num ber less than 500 (N ew ton & Cam pbell
1973), especially after the initial arrival
period. (In the Furneaux G roup about
1,000 Cape B arren G eese may be seen on
farms of about 500 ha, and the problem s
are correspondingly greater.)
T he Cape B arren G oose flock birds are
only about 40 km from their breeding
grounds and, as the families break up after
fledging, consist largely of non-breeding
birds. In contrast the British w intering
birds may travel several thousand
kilom etres and contain birds of all age and
social categories. A n im portant correlate is
that if Cape B arren G eese are m anaged in
one state, other states are not affected and
political problem s should not arise.
H ow ever, although the four A ustralian
states which the Cape B arren G oose en­
compasses have sim ilar legislation, public
attitudes vary. This was reflected in strong­
ly differing views published in new spapers
about the 1977 open season.
A third difference is that C ape B arren
G eese have very rarely been recorded as
eating anything but pasture plants, w here­
as the true geese in Scotland regularly
frequent fields of grain stubble and root
crops.
Conclusion
Selected areas m ust be m ade a much more
superior attraction and this can only be
brought about by a strong control over
pasture m anagem ent, size of area and
stocking techniques.
In V ictoria, the islands around W ilson's
Prom ontory are all now designated as part
of a N ational Park. They have no history of
hum an habitation or pasturing, and are
149
infrequently visited by holiday fisherm en
or skin divers in small boats. E ven these
visits usually occur in sum m er w hen the
breeding season, and the goose’s tim e of
susceptibility to disturbance, is nearly
over. Crayfish boats have visited or taken
shelter am ongst the islands in th e past, and
some fisherm en used to take hom e the
full-grown but still flightless goslings for
Christm as. T he tradition of goslinghunting has declined if n ot disappeared in
the last decade. So the hum an im pact on
the geese of the V ictorian breeding islands
is now probably fairly small and does not
seem likely to change. In the Furneaux
G roup, how ever, the situation is different;
the num ber of birds are larger, the b reed ­
ing islands are often still pastured, and
some are freehold (G uiler 1974; Pearse
1975).
T he solution to these sim ilar and yet
different problem s, in A ustralia as in
E uro p e, undoubtedly lies in th e purchase
and careful m anagem ent of appropriate
areas of land (Ow en 1977), as is now in
progress on Flinders Island, Tasm ania.
Incidentally, there is as yet no indication
that the problem s discussed here have
arisen in W estern A ustralia, b ut D orw ard
(1977b) predicts th at they will, if appropri­
ate agricultural changes take place.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the cooperation of landow n­
ers during these studies and for grants from the
Ian P o tter Foundation and the A ustralian R e­
search G rants Com m ittee.
Summary
Cape B arren G eese Cereopsis novaehollandiae
from breeding grounds on islands off W ilson's
Prom ontory, V ictoria, visit m ainland pastures
som e 40 km distant during sum m er in a flock of
up to 300 birds.
A ttem pts to attract geese to certain areas and
to minimize the agricultural problem s are
described. T heir im pact on agricultural interests
is assessed in term s of am ount o f pasture con­
sum ption, fouling of w ater places, and possible
transm ission of disease. These problem s are
com pared with those for C ape B arren G eese
elsew here in A ustralia and for tru e geese in
Britain. The suggested long-term solution is
acquisition of appropriate land and its specific
m anagem ent for geese.
150
D . F. D orw ard, F. I. N orm an and S. J. Cowling
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