The Swedish population of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus—supplemented or re-introduced?

Abstract

We have investigated historical records of observations of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus of the original Fennoscandian population in the area in Sweden where captive-reared goslings of the same species were released during 1981–1999. The release project has earlier been regarded as a re-introduction project. The data in this review include reports from many sources and we can present earlier unpublished observations from the area. The large number of observations of birds from the Fennoscandian population proves that the release of goslings in the actual area was a supplementation of a small but extant population and not a re-introduction.