No leads yet in probe of butchered Egyptian geese

SEVERAL investigation attempts have not been able to uncover who killed about 31 Egyptian geese in Hout Bay recently, an act which saw irate residents blame the culprit for the dwindling population of the birds in the valley.

This week sources with knowledge of the probes said the name of a possible suspect had cropped up, but there was no evidence linking him to the killings. At the start of the month four black bags containing the 31 goose carcasses were discovered in a refuse room near the roadside at the Kenrock Estate. The birds had been shot, and some apparently had breast meat gouged out. CapeNature became involved in investigations. A permit is needed to hunt Egyptian geese. Written consent is also needed from the owner of the land where the birds are. This week CapeNature spokesman Justin Lawrence said: “We’ve been out to the area to investigate a couple of times, but there isn’t enough evidence to charge anyone.”

Egyptian geese have remained a hot topic in Hout Bay. On the Facebook group, Hout Bay Organised, on which residents discussed the goose killings, the birds were mentioned last week because some were viewed as a nuisance.

One resident said: “I know what happened recently was unforgivable but boy, these critters are world-beating poo machines and in the last few months, a whole extended family of them appear to have decided that our home and pool is now theirs – s**t everywhere.”

Others said that placing toy snakes in the pool would scare off the birds, while another said the birds were an excellent form of free security.