The miscreants have taken over Vancouver’s public spaces, posing an unruly nuisance to people and pets, defecating on park benches, sidewalks and benches and plunking down anywhere they feel like..No, it’s not the city’s the homeless population, but rather a rapidly growing flock of Canada geese that’s threatening to overrun areas like English Bay and Stanley Park and turn them into no-go zones.. Canada goose bumper sticker .It’s become such a problem the city’s parks board wants to take drastic action to control populations that threaten to spiral out of control, including a plan to cull the critters. On May 9 it approved a “lethal removal” plan as a last resort that predictably has animal rights lovers up in arms..That’s because if left unchecked, the feathered horde — which is growing about 18% a year — threatens to top 10,000 by 2030. Adult geese live on average about 20 years and a single breeding pair — they’re monogamous — can produce 150 offspring in their lifetimes..And as we know, they can become extremely aggressive during mating season.. Geese on a pond .According to the city: "They defecate on average every 12 minutes, presenting a significant challenge in cleaning up after them … 311 often receives complaints about the geese and their droppings, usually in the summer.".As a national icon, the Canada goose is right up there with the beaver. It has long been revered since Greek times as a symbol of the north wind and is associated with the Roman goddess Juno. It has come to symbolize endurance, perseverance and bravery..In the 1960s the city — inspired by the budding eco-hippy movement — took steps to attract the majestic migratory monarch of the skies to its parks and waterways. The problem is, they never left. .Over the years a specific subspecies aptly called, the ‘Vancouver Canada Goose’ — Branta Canadensis Fulva — evolved and stopped migrating in the winter. Little wonder, given southern BC’s temperate climate, abundant food sources and lack of natural predators. Why would anyone want to leave?.It seems the chickens have finally come to roost. .Much like the city’s homeless population, Canadensis Fulva fall under the protection of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, even though they don’t actually migrate. And it's that specific subspecies causing the problems for the city parks department, not the ones that come, do their business and fly off again. .Over the years they’ve tried ‘addling’, the process of substituting fake eggs in the nests as a form of population control. The problem is they reproduce faster than workers can find the nests. In its meeting, the parks board described the proposed cull as a “last resort.” But it still needs federal approval on the grounds that Canada geese are a protected species..Predictably, animal rights groups are opposed to the plan, saying culls are “inhumane and ineffective” according to the Animal Alliance of Canada (AAC). .On its website, AAC campaigner Jordan Reichert explains that's because culls tend to have a reverse effect on populations, causing them to increase, as more resources are available to survivors. Natural mortality decreases and other birds move into the region. Too often culling targets breeding birds, not the visiting “moult migrants” who contribute to most of the concerns, while failing to address the causes for those concerns, he said..That’s apart from the fact the process can be just plain cruel. In 2016, Vancouver Island community Parksville rounded up 484 moulting geese into tennis courts and shot them with bolt guns despite bolt guns not being an approved method of killing geese by the Canadian Wildlife Service. .It’s not the first time Vancouver parks board culls culled controversy. In the summer of 2021 following a series of coyote attacks, BC conservation officials put down nearly a dozen of the offenders using CO2 rifles and leg hold traps. At the time the problem was blamed on their numbers, but rather, the fact they had gotten too used to humans feeding them.
The miscreants have taken over Vancouver’s public spaces, posing an unruly nuisance to people and pets, defecating on park benches, sidewalks and benches and plunking down anywhere they feel like..No, it’s not the city’s the homeless population, but rather a rapidly growing flock of Canada geese that’s threatening to overrun areas like English Bay and Stanley Park and turn them into no-go zones.. Canada goose bumper sticker .It’s become such a problem the city’s parks board wants to take drastic action to control populations that threaten to spiral out of control, including a plan to cull the critters. On May 9 it approved a “lethal removal” plan as a last resort that predictably has animal rights lovers up in arms..That’s because if left unchecked, the feathered horde — which is growing about 18% a year — threatens to top 10,000 by 2030. Adult geese live on average about 20 years and a single breeding pair — they’re monogamous — can produce 150 offspring in their lifetimes..And as we know, they can become extremely aggressive during mating season.. Geese on a pond .According to the city: "They defecate on average every 12 minutes, presenting a significant challenge in cleaning up after them … 311 often receives complaints about the geese and their droppings, usually in the summer.".As a national icon, the Canada goose is right up there with the beaver. It has long been revered since Greek times as a symbol of the north wind and is associated with the Roman goddess Juno. It has come to symbolize endurance, perseverance and bravery..In the 1960s the city — inspired by the budding eco-hippy movement — took steps to attract the majestic migratory monarch of the skies to its parks and waterways. The problem is, they never left. .Over the years a specific subspecies aptly called, the ‘Vancouver Canada Goose’ — Branta Canadensis Fulva — evolved and stopped migrating in the winter. Little wonder, given southern BC’s temperate climate, abundant food sources and lack of natural predators. Why would anyone want to leave?.It seems the chickens have finally come to roost. .Much like the city’s homeless population, Canadensis Fulva fall under the protection of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, even though they don’t actually migrate. And it's that specific subspecies causing the problems for the city parks department, not the ones that come, do their business and fly off again. .Over the years they’ve tried ‘addling’, the process of substituting fake eggs in the nests as a form of population control. The problem is they reproduce faster than workers can find the nests. In its meeting, the parks board described the proposed cull as a “last resort.” But it still needs federal approval on the grounds that Canada geese are a protected species..Predictably, animal rights groups are opposed to the plan, saying culls are “inhumane and ineffective” according to the Animal Alliance of Canada (AAC). .On its website, AAC campaigner Jordan Reichert explains that's because culls tend to have a reverse effect on populations, causing them to increase, as more resources are available to survivors. Natural mortality decreases and other birds move into the region. Too often culling targets breeding birds, not the visiting “moult migrants” who contribute to most of the concerns, while failing to address the causes for those concerns, he said..That’s apart from the fact the process can be just plain cruel. In 2016, Vancouver Island community Parksville rounded up 484 moulting geese into tennis courts and shot them with bolt guns despite bolt guns not being an approved method of killing geese by the Canadian Wildlife Service. .It’s not the first time Vancouver parks board culls culled controversy. In the summer of 2021 following a series of coyote attacks, BC conservation officials put down nearly a dozen of the offenders using CO2 rifles and leg hold traps. At the time the problem was blamed on their numbers, but rather, the fact they had gotten too used to humans feeding them.
