Barnacle goose populations have grown dramatically through conservation and climate change, creating complex welfare and land management considerations.
Barnacle geese benefit from legal protection and improving Arctic breeding grounds. However, individual welfare in large wintering flocks involves competition for food that disadvantages subordinate birds. Conflict with farming communities over crop damage has led to licenced population management that kills birds. The welfare of birds in conflict zones is complicated by the tension between population-level protection and individual welfare consequences of management. Climate-driven changes are fundamentally altering the species' welfare challenges as ranges shift and migration shortens.