Hi all,
The Magpie Geese were reintroduced to the Hunter Wetlands Centre (then the Shortland Wetlands Centre) in 1987 from birds raised at Serendip Wildlife Research Station in Victoria. The initial reintroduction was supplemented by more birds from Serendip and then some birds from the NT. You can read about it at this link:
http://www.wetlands.org.au/page4913/.aspx
Since 1992 the species has been breeding ‘in the wild’ not just at or near the wetlands centre but also at Seaham (about 25km away by the goose) and there has been a recent (2008) breeding record from Hexham Swamp. It is now recorded reasonably widely (though sporadically) in other parts of the Lower Hunter as well from parts of the Manning (near Taree). The provenance of the Manning birds is unclear.
Magpie Geese were once common in NSW – a good reference to look at re: their contraction in range is:
Nye, E.R., Dickman, C.R.A. and Kingsford, R.T. (2007). A wild goose chase – temporal and spatial variation in the distribution of the Magpie Goose (Anseranas semipalmata) in Australia. Emu 107: 28–37. It could be said that the reintroduction has been a successful one and that these birds are in fact far from ‘feral’. But having said that, one potential barrier to their dispersal is that the wetlands centre staff (I think still) feed the birds each afternoon. I can’t see reference to this on their website so perhaps it has stopped.
Cheers Mick
________________________________ From: Greg Little
David
There are people in the Newcastle area that can respond better than I, however, my understanding is that the Magpie Geese were found in the early days, pre European, around the Newcastle Lower Hunter Region but they were mostly eradicated by hunting and wetland loss etc. I can remember occasional small numbers of MG causing excitement with local birders when suddenly appearing at a small wetland near Morpeth in the 70’s. In the early 90’s about 100 birds were reared in cages at the new Shortland Wetlands Centre (don’t know where the MG eggs/chicks came from) and simply let out of the cages when able to “look after themselves”. They have since spread to and bred in other wetlands in the region. I can remember my father telling me that fellow golfers at his club thought the release of MG was stupid and irresponsible because they will rapidly multiply and “don’t we know the damage those birds cause to crops in the north of Australia”.
Greg Little
