Wild goose chase ends in freezer

Part of a high-tech bird migration observation plan has been shot down by an eskimo.

An Irish light-bellied brent goose, named Kerry by scientists, was fitted with a £3,000 electronic transmitter and then tracked 4,500 miles by satellite - where he was found in an eskimo's freezer.

Scientists tracked Kerry's migration route to the remote Cornwallis Island in Arctic Canada, where he appeared to be nesting. But when they visited the site they found an eskimo's hut and were shown to where Kerry lay in the freezer, still wearing his transmitter.

Dr James Robinson, of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, said that the hunter was surprised as he was unaware of what the device was.

"He was a bit reluctant to cooperate to start with, but when the project was explained to him, he was happy to help."

Kerry was one of six Irish light-bellied brent geese being followed on their migration routes by the Trust.

One, called Arnthor, is thought to have been shot down illegally, as his bleeps stopped suddenly above Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland.

Oscar, another of the geese, was found dead on a small Icelandic island after being eaten by a bird of prey. The remaining three - Austin, Hugh and Major Ruttledge - are currently off Canada's Arctic coast.

Scientists are particularly interested in the migration patterns of the geese because they are over long distances through almost impossible weather.