Avicultural excitment over Pygmy geese.
The gorgeous new pair of African pygmy geese on exhibit in the Tropical house at WWT Slimbridge have finally got the Avicultural staff excited!
The pygmy goose is regarded as a difficult species to keep happy in captivity. It is delicate in regards to bad weather, delicate to stressful environents, but oh so beautiful! It has been more than a decade since they were last kept on site, but they make a lovely and topical addition to our wetland protection themes in geological areas of interest to WWT such as Madagascar. They have a wide range and as a result are not considered to be endangered, although their totals are decreasing. It should be considered that habitat loss across a wide range can have more negative implications that first thought. Pygmy geese perform mini migrations across their range according to foodstuff availability. Habitat loss in summer locations could have a drastic effect on breeding success, even if their entire range appear to be relatively stable overall. It seems to me that no species is of least concern due to the size of their range. It would be interesting to know just what percentage of the whole area is specifically used by the pygmy geese.
They are triggered to breed according to foodstuff availability in the wild, so we hope that by keeping them in the tropical house they will always feel the potential to breed without the fear of lack of foodstuffs and drought (not very British, but you get my point...) The plush interior of the house should provide ample nesting opportunities, and they have already proven that they can get along with the bolshy Grey-winged trumpeter! They have a feisty attitude and among the right individuals can even prove to be pushy and bullying; hard to believe right?! These tiny birds are one of the most coveted additions to the collection after the initiation of our collection plan. Despite the addition of cranes and waders to the collection in the last 5 years, the appeal of these tiny little geese goes back in time and memory to the time of Sir Peter Scott and "old school" Aviculture.
They are considered one of the gems of the Avicultural world, and even the most hardy of private breeders still find them thoroughly captivating. I can't quite put my finger on why, excepting when you look into that melt-in-the-mouth eye, you don't see a colour scheme bourne out of evolutionary necessity, you just see something beautiful. I've no doubt that these birds are wonderfully camouflaged in their own habitat, but here in England they are simply wublime.
I was lucky enough to photograph these juveniles at a private collection last year. The bird in front is a yearling, who was put in to their pen as a companion and teacher. I dearly hope that I may get to see a few of these beauties by the end of 2014...
