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No. 39: Svalbard Pink-footed Goose. Population Status Report 2013-2014

Madsen, J., Cottaar, F., Amstrup, O., Asferg, T., Bak, M., Bakken, J., Christensen, T.K., Hansen, J., Jensen, G.H., Kjeldsen, J.P., Kuijken, E., Nicolaisen, P.I., Shimmings, P., Tombre, I. & Verscheure, C. 2014. Svalbard Pink-footed Goose. Population Status Report 2013-14. Aarhus University, DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, 14 pp. Technical Report from DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy No. 39. http://dce2.au.dk/pub/TR39.pdf

Summary

This report compiles annual monitoring data on the population status of the Svalbard pink-footed goose for the season 2013-14, which is used to monitor the population development and provide input data to the modelling of an optimal harvest strategy for the population for the coming hunting season (2014-15). This is part of an adaptive harvest management framework set up to support the implementation of the AEWA International Species Management Plan for the population. The estimated population size (May 2014) was 76,000 individuals, which is a decrease compared to 2013. The proportion of juveniles in the population (October 2013) was close to the long-term average, namely 11.8%. The number of pink-footed geese harvested in Norway and Denmark in the 2013 hunting season was c. 11,100.