Please tell us the history of the Canadian Snow Goose?
Barry Kent MacKay: The species breeds in the far north, often on tundra, above the treeline, and deep into the high arctic. There are a great many more of them now than there have been during most of the 20th Century, although no one knows exactly how many. They increased dramatically in the last two to three decades. They feed by “grubbing”. This means that instead of grazing, which means they cut plants off at the surface of the soil, leaving the roots and rhizomes intact underground so that the plants can grow back again, they actually dig down into the soil and damage or remove roots and rhizomes as well, a way of feeding called “grubbing”. The concern is that when the plants are removed in this manner, it will destabilize the soil, and it will increase the salt content of soil that is near salt water (including Hudson’s Bay, the giant body of water where many Snow Geese breed), and that this is a permanent form of damage that reduces the ability of the region to sustain other form
