The Vancouver Park Board passed a new Canada goose management plan which could include the “lethal removal” of hundreds of birds per year.
A staff report before the board Monday night says the current population of resident geese in the city sits at about 2,200, but with numbers increasing by about 18 per cent per year it could reach 10,000 by 2030.
The report notes an overpopulation of geese has caused problems with park and beach users, resulting in an uptick in calls to 311.
“Their primary impacts include damage to infrastructure and sensitive ecosystems like shorelines and native plantings, and high density fecal matter on beaches, pathways and grass, which impact the use and enjoyment of green spaces across the city,” the report states.
According to the report, current control methods — which focus primarily on egg addling, a process of swapping sterilized eggs into goose nests — have proven “insufficient” due to cost and because nests are often difficult to access.
“Additional recommended efforts include hazing, increased enforcement of the wildlife feeding bylaw, landscape modification, and reducing the population through removal,” the report states.
Park commissioners were presented with two options.
The first proposal, would’ve stabilized the population over a period of 15 to 20 years, includes addling eggs in an additional 700 nests per year, modifying park landscapes and coordinating strategic hazing, doing twice annual population monitoring and cracking down on wildlife feeding.
The second option, which staff passed Monday night, aims to stabilize goose numbers in five to 10 years, and includes all of the elements of the first proposal as well as reducing population through “lethal removal.”
Lethal removal would require a permit from the Canadian Wildlife Service, and requires the park board to submit a comprehensive management plan including other mitigation measures.
The report does not recommend a specific number of geese the city would aim to cull per year, but a proposed Canada Goose Management Plan being submitted to the board provides population projections based on scenarios where 150 and 200 geese were eliminated each year.
The report also notes that geese do not respect municipal boundaries, and calls for greater efforts to develop a regional management strategy, including the resurrection of the now-defunct Regional Canada Goose Working Group.
Implementing the proposed management plans would cost between $275,000 and $375,000 annually, which would require funding approval in the City of Vancouver’s 2024 operating budget plan.