Feral Greylag GeeseAnser anserin Britain. and Ireland, 1960–86

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Abstract
Greylag Geese were introduced to southwest Scotland and East Anglia in the 1930s to establish feral flocks, presumably as hunting quarry. In the 1960s and the 1970s the Wildfowlers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland translocated and released more than 1300 birds that had been caught or taken as eggs from Scotland or reared on their reserves, with the object of reestablishing the species as a breeding bird in England. By the mid-1980s flocks had been established at more than 30 sites. The flocks outside southwest Scotland have increased at the rate of just over 13% per year, and the total in Britain and Ireland rose from only 1700 at the end of the 1960s to an estimated 13 000–14 000 in 1985–86. The most rapid growth was in southern and central England and it is in this area, particularly on the gravel pits, that there remains the greatest potential for further expansion. Continuation of present trends would result in 26 000 by 1990 and 96 000 by the year 2000, but pressure from farmers, increase in wildfowling, shortage of breeding habitat and competition with the Canada Goose are likely to reduce the rate of increase.

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