Current status of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus in Iran

The Lesser White-fronted Goose is a species of conservation concern and considered to be globally threatened with extinction. Since the 1960s, the species has been reported from a total of 22 sites throughout Iran, but in the period 1992–2008, mid-winter counts of the species were received from only 16 sites. The status of the species in Iran is reviewed, and a map has been prepared showing the location of all the sites at which the species has been recorded. The highest number of birds recorded in Iran since the 1960s was a flock of 6,650 individuals in Miankaleh Protected Area in December 1972, while in 2007 and 2008, the total numbers recorded in Iran were only 264 and 26 individuals respectively.