Harteman Wildfowl - Orinoco goose

Orinoco goose

Neochen jubatus
Dutch: Orinocogans
German: Orinokogans
French: Oie d'Orénoque

Orinoco Goose: rarer than previously estimated?
2003 - From the Globally Threatened Bird Forums @ BirdLife.org
The Orinoco Goose is currently classified as Near Threatened, almost meeting criteria A1c,d; A2c,d, (declines approaching 30% in 10 years or three generations). Ken Kriese has posted the following comments: "I am a PhD student in Ecology at the University of California, Davis. My research has focused on the reproductive ecology of the Orinoco goose in the llanos of Venezuela. As part of my thesis, I am including a review of the population of this species. Currently, the population estimate is 25,000-100,000 individuals (Rose and Scott, 1994). Gomez-Dallmeier and Cringan (1989) further suggest that approximately 50% of these individuals may occur in Venezuela. My work, along with surveys conducted by Mark Gregory, a PhD student at SUNY - Syracuse, found only two large populations of Neochen in the Venezuelan llanos, suggesting that the population in Venezuela could be as few as 5,000 birds. I am currently gathering information from biologists and birders in South America regarding the status of Neochen in other countries, including locations where is has been sighted and how many individuals were seen. While this work is in progress, it appears that Neochen is typically seen in small groups in scattered locations. Columbia and Bolivia may be the only other countries where large concentrations of birds may be observed. Therefore, while my assessment is not yet complete, I believe that the catagorization of Neochen jubata as Near Threatened needs to be reconsidered, as the original population estimate of 25,000-100,000 appear to be high."