The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the Aleutian Canada goose recovered from near extinction and removed from the list of threatened and endangered species. Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced the news yesterday.
The Aleutian Canada goose was one of the first animal species identified as endangered and in need of protection. One of the smallest subspecies of Canada goose, it was first listed under the Endangered Species Protection Act of 1966, the predecessor to the current Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Once the ESA passed the law in 1973, they placed the Aleutian Canada goose on the ESA's endangered list. For more information about the ESA and a complete list of endangered and threatened animals, log on to Exceeds Population Goal Proposed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Aleutian Canada goose was at critical numbers in 1966, when it was first listed: only 800 estimated birds were left in the world. Biologists attribute the population decline to widespread degradation on key migration and wintering habitats and the introduction of predators on island nesting sites.
By 1991, the estimated worldwide population reached 6,300, prompting a revision of the listing to "threatened." Since 1991, the population increased to approximately 37,000 birds, over four times the population goal proposed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the federal agency in charge of listing and delisting species.
The USFWS's assistant regional director of fisheries and ecological services, LaVerne Smith said, "The comeback of the Aleutian Canada goose is an incredible success story, considering the vast area that the goose uses throughout the year and the remoteness of its breeding grounds. Our international partnerships with organizations like Ducks Unlimited have been a key to the success that the Aleutian Canada goose program has had."
Decline Attributed to Introduction of Non-Native Foxes:
Biologists attribute the decline of the Aleutian Canada goose to the introduction of non-native foxes to more than 190 islands that exist within the goose's nesting range in Alaska. Fur trappers introduced the foxes in the 18th century. The foxes preyed on the birds, which had virtually no natural defenses. Since 1967, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have successfully eliminated the foxes, a move that benefited the Aleutian Canada goose and many other bird species.
California's Central Valley: A Critical Wintering Area
The majority of the Aleutian Canada goose population winters in the Central Valley area of California. Sixty percent of the Pacific Flyway's migratory waterfowl winter in or migrate through the Central Valley. Says DU's Dr. Alan Wentz, Group Manager of Conservation Programs: "The Central Valley, critical to the life cycles of many waterfowl species, is in itself endangered. Wetland loss in the valley has been dramatic-with only about five percent of the original wetlands remaining today. In the past ten years, Ducks Unlimited has maximized resources in this area through a variety of initiatives aimed at reversing wetland loss as efficiently as possible." Aleutian Canada geese also stage in Oregon, near the coast, where Ducks Unlimited has led efforts to protect waterfowl habitat (Visit www.ducks.org to learn more about DU's campaign to save wetlands in the Pacific Northwest).
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