It has sometimes been considered a subspecies of the bean goose but some have proposed, based on descriptions in life and specimens, that it was distinctive enough to be treated as a full species.

It has been suggested that the Tunguska event of 1908 may have wiped out most of the breeding population in the Taiga region resulting in its dwindling to extinction.

[4][5][6] [7][8][9] A large molecular genetics study of bean geese populations used a few examples of what were termed as "neglectus" suggested that they were within the range of variations of a single species.

[4] Another study in 2022 based on mitochondrial DNA found that neglectus specimens did not have any unique sequence signature and they could be grouped with rossicus or fabalis and might merely reflect developmental and carotenoid pigmentation variations.

[11] The breeding zone of the form was never discovered but it has been suggested that it may have been in the Podkamennaya Tunguska river and its basin which was ornithologically under-explored.