77 Status of the Bean Goose Anser fabalis wintering in central Asia THOMAS HEINICKE Chausseestr. 1, D-18581 Vilmnitz, Germany. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The discovery of Bean Geese Anser fabalis around Lake Issyk-Kul in east Kyrgyzstan in the late 1990s suggested that a little-known Bean Goose population or subspecies wintered in central Asia. A review of published data on Bean Goose numbers and distribution in central Asian countries was undertaken to clarify the historic and current status of Bean Geese wintering in the region. Recent counts suggest that there is a small wintering population of 2,000–5,000 birds in central Asia, which is concentrated in a few areas in southeast Kazakhstan, east Kyrgyzstan and northwest China. Assessment of museum specimens of birds collected in central Asia, and also field observations, found that the geese were of the Taiga Bean Goose Anser f. fabalis subspecies. Bean Geese from central Asia have previously been classed as johanseni, but there was no evidence found in the present study for a johanseni subspecies. The lack of regular counts meant that population trends could not be determined with any accuracy, but the small numbers suggest that the population has declined and is now threatened. Formal recognition of the population is important for its management and conservation. Further research into the numbers and distribution of Bean Geese in central Asia is strongly recommended. Key words: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Taiga Bean Goose, Uzbekistan. The Bean Goose Anser fabalis breeds across International (Rose & Scott 1994, 1997) large parts of the Palaearctic tundra and taiga currently considers there to be four wintering belt, from Scandinavia in the west to the populations: the two western subspecies Chukotka Peninsula in the east. Four or five rossicus and fabalis wintering in Europe and the different subspecies are recognised: the two eastern subspecies serrirostris and smaller, thick-billed birds nest on tundra and middendorffi wintering in east Asia. The latest larger, longer-billed birds breed in taiga population estimates suggest that all Bean habitat, with an increase in the size and length Goose populations except for rossicus are in of the bill from west to east also contributing decline (Wetlands International 2006). A to their classification as different subspecies comparison of counts made of geese in east (Fox 2005; Mooij & Zöckler 1999). Wetlands Asia in 2000–2002 with those made in the ©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Wildfowl (2009) 59: 77–99 78 Bean Geese wintering in central Asia mid 1980s further indicate that most east and Tajikistan, and also in the Xinjiang Asian goose populations decreased in province of northwest China. The only numbers during the late 20th century, regular records of Bean Geese wintering in including both of the Bean Goose subspecies the region in recent years were counts made wintering in east Asia (Syroechkovskiy at Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, in 1999–2000 2006). and 2002–2005 for the annual International A fifth subspecies of Bean Goose Waterbird Census (IWC) coordinated by breeding in the west Siberian lowlands and Wetlands International (Heinicke 2008; wintering in central Asia has been described Gilissen et al. 2002; Solokha 2006). The IWC as A. f. johanseni, intermediate between fabalis does not focus particularly on geese, so an and middendorffi (Delacour 1954; Dolgushin unknown number may have been overlooked 1960; Fox 2005), but this was not included if the birds were feeding away from the in waterbird population estimates from the monitored wetlands or if site coverage was 1990s onwards (Rose & Scott 1994, 1997). incomplete. There have been no special Following the discovery of Bean Geese surveys of geese in the region. A wintering at Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan comprehensive literature search, mostly of (42°30’N, 77°30’E) in the late 1990s regional Russian literature, therefore was (Heinicke 2008), Wetlands International undertaken to augment information on provisionally recognised a separate goose numbers and distribution in the region. wintering population in central Asia (Delany Data obtained from the literature search & Scott 2002), but no population estimates were digitised and analysed using ArcView® or trends were provided. geographic information system (GIS) This paper reviews recent published data software. For each of the records, on the numbers and distribution of Bean the location (including geographical Geese in central Asian countries, with a view coordinates), number of birds and exact to clarifying the current status of Bean dates or time periods were recorded. Geese in central Asia. The collated data are Additional unpublished recent data from compared with historical records to Kyrgyzstan and from the Chinese Anatidae determine any changes in winter distribution database (M. Barter, Wang Xin & Cao Lei, and numbers. Additionally, the taxonomic pers. comm.) were also collected and status of the geese is investigated, as the included in the GIS. All data were grouped validity of the subspecies johanseni is thought into one of three time periods: group I = > to be questionable (Burgers et al. 1991; 1995 records, group II = 1960–1995 records Mooij & Zöckler 1999; Fox 2005). and group III = < 1960 records. The year 1960 was taken as the limit for group III for Methods practical reasons; a main source of early data Records were collated of Bean Geese for Kazakhstan (Dolgushin 1960) gave reported in the central-Asian former Soviet sightings without exact dates. If precise Republics of Kazakhstan (southern part dates were available, the birds were classified only), Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan as being passage migrants (September– ©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Wildfowl (2009) 59: 77–99 Bean Geese wintering in central Asia 79 November and March–May) or winter period. All were located in a relatively small visitors (December–February). The reporting area, in the Ily River basin, southeast effort was random for each of the countries, Kazakhstan, around Lake Issyk-Kul in because Bean Geese were not considered to eastern Kyrgyzstan and near Bole in be of special interest or concern. northwest China (Fig. 1, Appendix 1). The The taxonomic position of the Bean geese were recorded at or near lakes or Goose wintering in central Asia was reservoirs, surrounded by agricultural fields investigated by comparing measurements which provided potential feeding areas. recorded for several museum specimens of Observations from late autumn and during birds from the region with those for other winter indicate that the birds remained in Bean Goose populations. Single specimens that region for at least part of the winter were found in the Museum of the Issyk-Kul season. The numbers reported suggest that zapovednik, Ananevo, in the Natural a wintering population of at least a few History Museum, Berlin, and in the Koenig thousand birds was present in 1990s and Museum, Bonn. Photographs from two early 2000s, with a maximum count of type-specimens of johanseni were obtained ~ 5,000 geese at Lake Kolzhazskoe in the from the American Museum of Natural 1990s (Erokhov 2002a, Appendix 1). A History, New York, and another record decline in the number of Bean Geese from Afghanistan was found in the online wintering at Lake Issyk-Kul, the only catalogue of the same museum. consistently monitored site, from 587 Additionally, ring recoveries of Bean individuals in January 1998 to 48 birds in Geese from central Asia and neighbouring mid-winter 2005 (Heinicke 2008), may be areas were collected and analysed. The only indicative of a decline of the wintering available data were recoveries of birds population. originally ringed in the Netherlands. From Although Gavrilov (2000) states that the 1957–1987, > 13,000 Bean Geese wintering Bean Goose occurs only as a migrant in the Netherlands were ringed and most species in Kazakhstan, recent data show that were identified to subspecies level (4,623 the birds do winter in the southeast part of fabalis and 7,056 rossicus) (B. Ebbinge, in litt.). the country (Belyalov & Kovshar 2002). In contrast, there were no recoveries of Dolgushin (1960) reported regular wintering birds ringed in Russia or the former USSR of Bean Geese in south Kazakhstan in the from central Asia (K. Litvin/Bird Ringing first half of the 20th century, but these areas Centre Moscow, pers. comm.). seem to be completely deserted in the 2000s. Bean Geese were not recorded in Results Uzbekistan during the winter counts made in 2003–2006 (Lanovenko 2008). The only Observations and published records of recent observation is from October 2006, Bean Geese in central Asia when a Bean Goose flock was reported Only eight records of Bean Geese reported migrating at Ayakagitma Lake near Buchara in central Asia were found for the post-1995 (Lanovenko 2008). The current status for ©Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Wildfowl (2009) 59: 77–99 80 Bean Geese wintering in central Asia Figure 1. Geographical location of Bean Goose records in central Asia from 1995 onwards. Numbers are for the sites listed in Appendix 1. Uzbekistan is unknown, but the Bean mentions wintering of johanseni Bean Geese Goose is now most likely only an irregular in Qinghai province (Zheng Guangmei visitor to the country. 2005) and the northern part of the Red The species is considered to be an Basin, Sichuan province (Lu Tai-Chun occasional visitor to Turkmenistan, with no 1979). The extent to which these areas are recent observations (E. Rustamov, pers. still used by wintering Bean Geese is not comm.). There were also no recent records known. found for Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Bean Geese were recorded at > 20 The current status of Bean Geese different locations in central Asia between wintering in Xinjiang province, China, is 1960–1995 (Fig. 2, Appendix 2). The data unclear. The occurrence of larger flocks indicate a wider range of staging and during spring and autumn migration in east wintering sites in central Asia during that Kyrgyzstan and the disappearance of Bean period (Fig.