Because of their popularity chiefly as an ornamental bird, the species has also been introduced to Europe, the United States and elsewhere outside their natural range.

[5] The Egyptian goose was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas aegyptiaca.

[6][7] Linnaeus partly based his account on the "L'oye d'Egypte" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Ornithologie.

[11] The generic name Alopochen (literally, fox-goose) is based on Greek ἀλωπός (alōpós, also ἀλώπηξ alōpēx), "fox", and χήν (chēn) "goose", referring to the ruddy colour of its back.

[21] It is found in open or semi-open habitats, typically near fresh water, ranging from lowlands to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level in the Ethiopian Highlands, and largely absent from dense forests and deserts.

[15][20] While not breeding, it disperses somewhat, sometimes making longer migrations northwards into the arid regions of the Sahel, and occasionally even reaching the North African nations of Algeria and Tunisia,[15][20] historically a more frequent part of its range.

[29] The Egyptian goose was first introduced to the Netherlands in 1967 and to Belgium in 1982, and these formed the basis for the population in mainland Europe, likely supplemented by some captive escapees from other European countries.

[4][23][30] Further observations, sometimes also involving isolated cases of breeding, have been made in Austria, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and elsewhere in mainland Europe, but it is not yet known to have become established in those countries.

[4] In the US, breeding populations are found in Arkansas, California, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, with occasional reports of the species elsewhere.

Both sexes are aggressively territorial towards their own species when breeding and frequently pursue intruders into the air, attacking them in aerial "dogfights".

[36] In their native range, predators of Egyptian geese include leopards,[37] lions, cheetahs, hyenas, crocodiles and Old World vultures.