Near the reindeer enclosure at Tama Zoo is the stork "nursing area." As the name suggests, storks are currently raising their young on nesting platforms, while geese are entering mating season at their feet.

In the "Child-rearing Area," we currently keep 15 geese of four different species in a large cage with a stork nesting platform and a smaller cage below it. This time, we'll introduce the mating behavior of the Emperor Geese that we keep here.

Around the fall of 2013, the large cage housed four Bar-headed Goose (two a pair, and the other two a male and female who had broken up), one pair of Snow Goose, and one pair of Brant Goose. To this, we moved one pair of Mikado Geese and two unpaired males (hereinafter referred to as "single males"), who had been kept in a small cage, to the large cage for exercise.

Then, the pair of Mikado geese continued to stay together as before, even in the large cage, but one of the solitary male Mikado geese began to stick close to the female of Bar-headed Goose goose pair, and the other male began to stick close to Bar-headed Goose goose female who had broken up with her previous pair. I was surprised at how quickly things had unfolded, but I understood when I heard the words of a senior geese: "Goose love is love at first sight."

However, the solitary male finally found his long-desired partner, but it was of a different species, and one of them already had a mate. What became of the romance between these two males?

A small goose fell in love with a female of a pair of Bar-headed Goose geese. The male didn't chase her away, and the three of them stayed together for a while. Neither of the pair seemed to mind, and only the male small goose seemed to be desperately following her around. However, as spring arrived and the breeding season approached, Bar-headed Goose goose male seemed to get more motivated and began to chase the small goose away and protect the female. The lone male who was chased away was a little pitiful, but as the person in charge, I was relieved that the bond between Bar-headed Goose goose pair remained intact.

Meanwhile, the Mikado goose, who had fallen in love with Bar-headed Goose goose female after her pair broke up, followed her around constantly, even though she didn't reciprocate his feelings. Later, the female was moved to a smaller cage to be kept with Bar-headed Goose male that was being kept elsewhere. The large and small cages are separated by wire mesh, but the Mikado goose male hasn't given up on the female who has been moved, and even now he clings to the wire mesh all day long, calling out to Bar-headed Goose goose female.

When you visit the stork's "nursing area," it might be interesting to pay attention to the subtle relationships between these geese.

Top photo: A male Eurasian Goose staring at Bar-headed Goose Goose.
Photo below: A pair of Bar-headed Goose walking together.

[Ami Nakajima Tama Zoo]

(June 6, 2014)