Nanaimo, B.C., mulls solution to damage caused by huge flocks of Canada geese
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Sep, 2017 10:30 AM
Huge flocks of Canada geese can be unwanted pests in any location, but several Vancouver Island cities say the geese have moved past messy and aggressive and are harming the environment.
Nanaimo, B.C., environmental protection officer Kevin Brydges says Canada geese were brought to the island for hunting in the 1970s and 1980s and have adapted so well that they no longer migrate in winter.
Researchers at Vancouver Island University say as many as 1,800 birds overwinter in Nanaimo, leaving droppings and eating through grasses vital to the health of river estuaries.
Confirmation of the size of the Nanaimo flock will help the city decide on a management strategy, which Brydges says may include population control similar to a cull carried out in the nearby City of Parksville last year.
Tim Clermont, with Guardians of Mid-Island Estuaries, says before the Parksville cull, the geese had eaten almost 80 per cent of estuary grasses and destroyed shelter for migrating salmon.
"They affect tourism when people come here to enjoy our beaches. And when you have lots of geese, sometimes they've had to close beaches," Clermont says.
But Brydges, who is part of a group seeking a unified approach to the problem, predicts if Canada geese are removed from one area, birds from other areas will come in to fill the void.
Brydges says a cull has not been proposed in Nanaimo but could be considered, and relocation is an option but there are rules about relocating geese.
"And, to be honest, you're basically moving the problem from one place to another. These geese are smart, they're habituated and they will find their way back," he says.
CALGARY — A Polish man's effort to circumnavigate the globe on two wheels came to a screeching halt when his scooter was struck by a car on the TransCanada Highway east of Calgary.
CALGARY — A Calgary judge has rejected a man's argument that he acted in self-defence when he strangled his wife and buried her body in their basement.
OTTAWA — The federal infrastructure minister says the Liberals want more of the billions in upcoming project funding to be spent directly on flood and disaster mitigation.
TORONTO — The managing editor of CBC's "The National" was reassigned Wednesday for what the public broadcaster called "an inappropriate, insensitive and frankly unacceptable tweet" he made as part of a controversial debate over cultural appropriation.
Doing away with the regulation is a cause the federal NDP has been pushing for five years, and one for which Justin Trudeau expressed support before becoming prime minister.
