16 Nebraskaland • June 2019
PHOTO
BY
JEFF
KURRUS
IS THE CONSERVATION ORDER HELPING?
The Light Goose Conservation Order was enacted to
reduce populations of lesser snow and Ross's geese that were
causing damage to sub-Arctic habitats. The order hasn't
met its intended objectives, but one reason into why may be
reflected from a recent study by a team of wildlife biologists
– including Nebraska Game and Parks' Dr. Mark Vrtiska.
A key piece in reducing light goose populations was not
only to increase the overall harvest of geese, but really
increasing the harvest of adult females. Healthy, adult
females are the primary drivers of the population given that
they lay and incubate eggs and then help raise goslings.
Those females that build sufficient fat and protein reserves
during spring migration are more likely to nest and raise more
young. Obviously, there's no way to identify male or female
geese while flying, but harvesting enough healthy (i.e., geese
with abundant fat and protein reserves) geese would work.
The question is – what geese are being harvested?
To answer that question, researchers compared birds
harvested over decoys and those hunted using jump-shooting
tactics in Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota in
the springs of 2015 and 2016. The team found that during
the order, adult lesser snow and Ross's geese harvested over
decoys had less fat than counterparts randomly collected
through jump shooting. Essentially, snow and Ross's geese
in poorer body condition are more vulnerable to harvest than
healthier birds when hunted over decoys. Individual geese
that are in poorer body condition likely have more willingness
to respond to decoys that may signal food availability.
Because at least 70 percent of the light geese harvested
during the order are over decoys, there are implications to
the effectiveness of the order. In addition to an insufficient
amount of harvest, harvest of individuals exhibiting poorer
body condition suggests that the order primarily removes
individuals from the population that would die of natural
mortality at later stages of migration or may not reproduce.
Thus, the order in turn actually may be aiding light goose
populations than contributing to their reduction.
By Jeff Kurrus
IN THE FIELD
