Christian Moullec and his GeeseA very suitable method for the re-introduction of Lesser White-fronted Geese is the microlight aircraft method. This method makes use of the fact that young geese follow their parents on their first migration to the wintering range and thereby learn the migratory route as well as the best staging areas and wintering sites.
If young Lesser White-fronted Geese are imprinted on human "foster parents" and trained to follow a microlight aircraft, man and machine function as foster parents. In this way the young geese follow the microlight aircraft and can be led to protected wintering grounds via a save route. These young birds learn the migratory route on their first flight and remember it in subsequent years. They are already independent on their first flight back into their breeding area.
Several projects in Northern America, Europe and Asia showed that this is a very promising method.
Picture added on 26 June 2006
