What’s good for the goose...
Where have all the geese gone? For centuries the New Grounds, an area of reclaimed salt marsh on the east bank of the river Severn, were renowned for the thousands of white-fronted geese that wintered there.
It was the presence of these geese, long-distance migrants from arctic Russia, that convinced Peter Scott that he should establish his collection of wildfowl at Slimbridge, overlooking the New Grounds, in 1946.
The geese had been traditionally preserved for shooting by the Berkeley family, owners of the land for 800 years. Shooting was, however, strictly controlled. At least three keepers were employed during the season to look after them, while there were strict shooting rules that ensured that the geese were never driven off.
With the establishment of the Wildfowl Trust in 1947, the whitefronts continued to thrive, with numbers increasing annually. The flock peaked at 7,600 birds, during
