I still haven't heard from breeders who I have tried to contact re: status of these geese in private collections, but Simon Tarsnane, in his book "Waterfowl Care, Breeding and Conservation, published in 1996 states..."Some very common European species are almost unheard of in North America. There are virtually no Greylag, Pink-footed, Swan Geese, European White-fronts, or Bean Geese represented in modern-day collections". This statement, coupled with the data from ISIS that I posted yesterday (pasted below), supports the likelihood that these are not escapees from North American collections. The fact that these two geese are very wary, and flush at times when the Canadas seem unconcerned, also suggests that they are wild birds. Again, here's the ISIS data:

I checked ISIS and there are no pink-footed geese in North American collections who participate in ISIS (mostly zoos), and only about 40 in European collections. There are 59 bean geese in European collections and 7 in Japan. There are four Russian bean geese in a theme park in Ohio according to ISIS, but last year I tried to contact them and got no response.

Greg Toffic
Curator of Birds and Invertebrates
Woodland Park Zoo
601 N. 59th. St.
Seattle, WA 98103
206-684-4836 (desk)
206-233-7278 (fax)
greg.toffic at zoo.org