Hugh the goose is safely back in Co Down after an epic 9,000- mile journey to the Canadian Arctic wastes that saw one of his brethren meet an untimely end in an Inuit's freezer.
He is the only one of six Brent geese, tracked by researchers using satellite technology to study migration routes, which is known to have made it back to Strangford Lough after a six-month absence.
Researchers from the Wildlife and Wetlands Centre outside Comber, Co Down, have known Hugh was back for a couple of weeks - along with 21,000 others - but only in recent days have they managed to pinpoint and photograph him.
Dr James Robinson, senior research officer at the WWT, said: "The return of Hugh has enabled us to understand the key staging sites and route that these geese take on their migration. It has given clear evidence of what threats we need to remove in the future to safeguard this population."
A signal from one of the £3,000 transmitters - held by elastic to the back of another bird - was tracked by colleagues in the Canadian Wildlife Service straight to the home of an Inuit.
Hugh's pal Kerry was discovered in the kitchen freezer among several other birds the hunter admitted having shot.
Another bird, Arnthor, is also believed to have been shot for food after making it from Ireland to an island off the west coast of Greenland.
Mr James Orr, general manager at the WWF centre at Castle Espie on Strangford Lough, said Hugh and two other birds made it all the way to the breeding grounds high inside the Arctic circle.
The satellite tracking had provided invaluable information about the routes and hazards of the geese. - (PA)