The biologist for the Vancouver Park Board says he’s never seen anything like it.
James Beer posted a video to YouTube on May 4 showing two men standing on a path in Stanley Park.
“Put it back, I’ve got you on camera,” Beer can be heard saying.
“Put it back, you can’t do this. It’s not a toy.”
Beer said he was walking around Lost Lagoon when he heard another man say he wanted to take one of the baby geese home, adding that he thought it was “cute”.
As he walked a little further, he saw the man scare off the parents and grab the gosling.
After being confronted by Beer, the man released the gosling, which scampered off to rejoin its parents.
The man, who has not been identified, then says “thank you very much” in a sarcastic tone.
He rides off on his bike with another man as Beer finishes filming.
“It was very unusual,” Nick Page, biologist for the Vancouver Park Board, told Global News. “We don’t see this very often. I’ve worked for the Vancouver Park Board for six years and haven’t seen any incidents like this.”
“The question was, what was the motivation? Were they grabbing it as a pet? Were they going to feed it to their large boa constrictor?”
Page said geese are very conditioned to humans but they are very sensitive when they have goslings with them.
“All wildlife are protected. They are protected by the park bylaw as well as the B.C. Ministry of Environment Wildlife Act as well as the Migratory Bird Convention Act so you cannot disturb, you cannot try to capture, you cannot try to kill any of the urban wildlife in Vancouver parks,” he added.
Page said in this case, this was an issue that was averted and it is important to educate the public not to touch the wildlife.