Barnacle geese undertake remarkable migrations from Arctic breeding grounds to British wintering sites, with welfare shaped by hunting pressure, agricultural conflicts, and climate change.
Barnacle goose welfare illustrates the tension between conservation success and human-wildlife coexistence. Population recovery is a welfare positive; individual birds have better survival prospects in protected populations. But growing populations create agricultural conflicts that generate political pressure for culling. Managing this tension through deterrence, scaring, and habitat modification rather than lethal control maintains the welfare gains of recovery. Climate change is beginning to affect Arctic breeding conditions; monitoring the welfare of breeding populations in Svalbard and Greenland is essential for early detection of climate-driven welfare impacts.