Barnacle geese from the Svalbard population winter almost entirely on the Solway Firth and surrounding farmland, with welfare challenges from hunting on migration routes and agricultural conflict.
Barnacle goose welfare involves the complex interaction between hunting management, agricultural conflict, and habitat use. The licensed shooting of barnacle geese to manage agricultural damage causes direct mortality and wounding of individual birds. Sub-lethally wounded birds that escape into the flock experience pain and physiological compromise without treatment. Agricultural disturbance of flocks by scaring reduces feeding time and increases energetic expenditure during a critical body-condition maintenance period. The conflict between wildlife welfare and agricultural interests creates a challenging management context where welfare of individual birds is balanced against population management objectives.