Why the pink-footed goose is a CO2 villain

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/20/pink-footed-goose-co2-villain

Could this bird really have a worse carbon footprint than a patio heater?

Pink-footed geese - their numbers, and the amount of carbon they release, are on the increase

What was less well known about the pink-footed goose, until now, is that each bird is responsible for more than 100kg of ­carbon-dioxide emissions each year. The pink-footed goose: the bird with a carbon footprint four times larger than a patio heater.

A new analysis by Speed and his colleagues, published in the journal Polar Biology, calculates that each goose grubs up some 37kg of Arctic carbon each year. That's the equivalent of 136kg of carbon-dioxide emissions per bird, compared with a measly 35kg of CO2 produced by the average patio heater.

Ironically, the number of pink-footed geese, and the amount of carbon they release, is on the increase due to conservation measures in Britain and northern Europe. Changes in farming styles and reduced shooting have also contributed to a three-fold rise in the Svalbard population since the 1960s.