Regent’s Park plan to ban hundreds of geese from lake to protect visitors

Birds accused of creating a danger with their droppings, but RSPB says move could distress them

GEESE are to be banned from one of London’s most popular parks, because visitors keep slipping on their droppings.

There are plans to erect a fence around the Regent’s Park boating lake, to stop up to 400 Canada Geese flocking there in June to moult.

Royal Parks, which runs the park, has been criticised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) for seeking to push nature into “a smaller and smaller space”.

Canada Geese cannot fly while they moult between June and mid-july. During their moulting period, the geese must be near open water so as to quickly escape any predators on land. Goose numbers in Regent’s Park are understood to rise significantly over this period, from around 40 year-round to 400 in summer.

The RSPB hit out at the move and said it could cause “distress” to end access for birds that have become used to returning to the same spot year after year.

A spokesman said it was likely the geese would simply travel elsewhere, passing on the problem to other parks.

“Nature is in trouble and needs our help more than ever. We have seen recent TV programmes or reports in the media telling us that nature is facing a struggle to survive. In fact, more than half of all wildlife in the UK has declined over the past 40 years,” the spokesman said.

“Instead of looking at ways we can force nature into an ever smaller space, we should look at how we can live alongside wildlife and help give it a home in our villages, towns and cities.”

But Nick Biddle, the park manager at Regent’s Park, defended the move, saying that the volume of geese made the area “dangerous”.

“Every June, many hundreds of geese come to Regent’s Park and moult in the boating lake, fouling the pedestrian footpath and making it slippery and dangerous for visitors, as well as damaging the lawns,” he said.

“We’re considering reintroducing a low wire fence along the lakeside, which was in place previously, to protect the area.

“The birds will find other nearby water bodies for themselves in order to carry out their annual moult, without affecting the safety of visitors.”

He added: “Once we have a design we’ll consult with local residents and local planning officers before confirming the proposal.”

A spokesman for Royal Parks, which manages 5,000 acres of green spaces across eight London parks, including Hyde Park, Green Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park, said there were no proposals to add anti-goose fences to other parks.