Both have been widely introduced in more recent times, and modern flocks in both areas (and elsewhere, such as Australia and North America) may consist of either species or hybrids between them.

Archaeological evidence of the domestic goose in northern Europe indicates that it was probably introduced into Scandinavia during the Early Iron Age (400 BCE–550 CE).

[3][5] As most domestic geese display little sexual dimorphism, sexing is based primarily on physical characteristics and behaviour.

Owing to their highly aggressive nature, loud call and sensitivity to unusual movements, geese can contribute towards the security of a property.

[3] In late 1950s South Vietnam, the VNAF used flocks of geese to guard their parked aircraft at night due to the noise they would make at intruders.

[6] Because domestic geese descended from the greylag goose are effectively the same species as their wild ancestor (being a subspecies formed through domestication), escaped individuals readily breed with wild populations, resulting in the offspring sometimes resembling either one of their parents, or bearing mixed plumage with patterns of grey and white feathers and orange beaks.

Due to their tendency to make noise when approached by strangers, about 500 geese were used to supplement dogs, drones, and humans to patrol the 533-km boundary between Chongzuo and Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The geese in the temple of Juno on the Capitoline Hill were said by Livy to have saved Rome from the Gauls around 390 BC when they were disturbed in a night attack.