Gangs of Canada geese expanding their territory
An increase in the number of Canada geese has led to gangs of geese congregating in grassy areas and leaving behind messy droppings in parks by the shoreline in Vancouver.
Nick Page, biologist with the Vancouver park board, said Tuesday that the Canada geese in local parks are resident populations.
“I think we are getting an incremental increase in the goose population,” he said. “There are more geese than we’ve had — at least in the last decade — in parks.”
Page said awareness of Canada geese is higher during the summer because people spend more time outside and are more likely to see the birds.
Between 2000 and 2016, there were 245 calls to the City of Vancouver about Canada geese, with slightly more positive than negative, and the number of calls is increasing each year. Since the end of 2016 there have been 55 complaints about goose droppings. According to the Canadian Wildlife Service, the southern part of B.C. has an estimated 37,800 Canada geese. In Vancouver, shoreline parks with roaming gangs of geese now include Ceperley Meadow in Stanley Park, the grassy areas of English Bay and Sunset Beach, David Lam Park, and Thornton Park.
“We have created conditions in many shoreline parks that are very conducive to supporting geese,” Page said. “This is a native invasive species — for lack of a better word — that is challenging to work with.”
Page said the park board manages Canada geese populations by egg addling, which is a way to sterilize eggs by covering them with oil or freezing them and then replacing them in the nest. But Canada geese have proven adaptable. They’re now nesting on private property where the park board has to ask for permission to enter, which is not always granted by property owners who want to protect the pair of geese nesting on their property.
He said the last big relocation of Canada geese occurred in 2000, but that’s no longer an option as the areas where they were moved — such as Pitt Lake — are now full of their own Canada geese.
“The other side of geese is that people really love them,” Page said. “Locals and tourists will take photographs of squirrels, raccoons and Canada geese. They’re kind of an iconic Canadian species for many people visiting Vancouver. We love them and hate them at the same time.”