• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Anser canagicus (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Chen. Elsewhere sometimes placed in monospecific Philacte. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	A2de+4cde
2012	Near Threatened	A2de+4cde
2008	Near Threatened	A2b,d,e
2006	Near Threatened
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	775,000 km2	good
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	2,530,000 km2	good
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	90000-120000 mature individuals	good	estimated	2016
Population trend	increasing	good	estimated	-
Generation length	8.14 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1-2,1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: MNRE (2021) indicate that the total population is c.45,000 breeding pairs (c.90,000 mature individuals), which is broadly consistent with spring counts in Alaska typically finding 60,000-80,000 birds, not all of which will be mature individuals (Schmutz et al. 2020). Wetlands International (2022), citing Dooley et al. (2016) for justification, suggest a global population of 158,000 birds, although it is unclear what percentage of these are mature individuals. Overall, the population is estimated at 90,000-120,000 mature individuals to account for these uncertainties, as well as annual variation (see USFWS 2022).

Trend justification: In the USA, where approximately 70% of the population breeds, the trend is thought to have been declining between 1964 and 1981. Between 1981 and 2015, population trends from spring aerial staging surveys were essentially stable (CAFF 2018), while summer aerial surveys from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta between 1985 and 2014 showed an annualised growth rate of 2.9% per year. In Russia, numbers of moulting geese in southern Chukotka also showed an increased since the mid-1990s (CAFF 2018). Such trends (using largely the same, though more contemporary, data) are repeated in most recent sources (e.g. Figure 13, in USFWS 2022). The principal threat to this species, hunting, is unlikely to cause substantial declines in the future, with offtake carefully managed by the USFWS, with a closure of all hunting if/when numbers fall below a set three-year running average and strict enforcement of harvest restrictions (Schmutz et al. 2020, USFWS 2022). Although listed as Vulnerable in the national red list of Russia, there too the population is reportedly increasing (CAFF 2018, MNRE 2021). Globally therefore, the global population trend is set to increasing, with no immediate indication this is at risk of changing in the near future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Canada	extant	vagrant			yes
Russia	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
USA	extant	native		yes	yes	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Russia (Asian)	Commander Islands
Russia (Asian)	Getlyangen lagoon and Khalyustkin cape
Russia (Asian)	Lower Anadyr lowlands
Russia (Asian)	Mechigmenskiy Gulf
Russia (Asian)	Meechkyn spit and adjacent plain
Russia (Asian)	Meinypylginski and Kapylgyn lakes
Russia (Asian)	Vankarem lowlands and Kolyuchin bay
USA	Bechevin Bay
USA	Carter Bay
USA	Central Yukon - Kuskokwim
USA	Chagvan Bay
USA	Chignik Bay
USA	Chiniak Bay
USA	Cinder River-Hook Lagoon
USA	Egegik Bay
USA	Goodnews Bay
USA	Ivanof Bay
USA	Izembek-Moffet-Kinzarof Lagoons
USA	Kuluk Bay
USA	Kuskokwim River Delta
USA	Kvichak Bay
USA	Nanvak Bay
USA	Nelson Lagoon-Mud Bay
USA	Nushagak Bay
USA	Nushagak Bay, marine
USA	Port Heiden
USA	Port Moller-Herendeen Bay
USA	Seal Islands
USA	Ugashik Bay
USA	Wide Bay

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Tundra	major	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	passage
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Tidepools	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 150 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Vulpes lagopus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Pollution	Domestic & urban waste water - Run-off	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	national, international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Emperor Goose Anser canagicus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/emperor-goose-anser-canagicus on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.