Lesser white-fronted goose  (Anser erythropus)

Following extensive hunting in Russia, China and Kazakhstan, numbers of the lesser white-fronted goose declined by between 30 and 49 percent in just ten years, between 1998 and 2008. The global population in 2008 was estimated to be between 28,000 and 33,000 individuals (8). This hunting pressure continues in these three countries, which are not party to the Convention on Migratory Species and so cannot be subjected to international action. As they hold responsibility for 95 percent of the lesser white-fronted goose population, it is crucial that Russia, China and Kazakhstan alter their hunting rules to benefit this species (7).

Having signed Memorandums of Understanding with regard to the protection of other bird species occurring within their boundaries, it is hoped that Russia, China and Kazakhstan might be encouraged to alter the timing of hunting to ease the pressure on the lesser white-fronted goose. Ultimately, a ban on the hunting of all Anser species is necessary, as differentiation of goose species is difficult from a distance (7).

In 2008, an International Single Species Action Plan for the conservation of the Western Palearctic population of the lesser white-fronted goose was published. It outlines a number of actions that are required to stop and reverse the current declines observed in these populations (8). As the lesser white-fronted goose is a long-distance migrant, regularly crossing 22 countries, international cooperation will be integral to the conservation of this Vulnerable bird (8).