Western Springs geese could be killed if not re-homed, Auckland politician says

Tuesday, 2 July 2019

At least 140 geese at Western Springs Park will be relocated to two lifestyle blocks north of the city in the next fortnight.

A gaggle of geese who live in a popular park could be killed if they cannot be re-homed, a local board member says.

The geese live with other birds, including ducks, geese and pūkeko, in Western Springs Park near Auckland Zoo.

Waitematā Local Board member Rob Thomas said the goose population at the park had boomed and there were about 120 geese currently living there.

However, Auckland Council's park maintenance contractor, Ventia, was only contracted to monitor about 28 geese.

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The geese live in Auckland's Western Springs Park near Auckland Zoo and MOTAT.

An online campaign was launched last Friday called Save the Geese.

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There has been a population boom of geese in Western Springs Park.

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Thomas said the council was looking at options, including culling the geese.

A local board member is trying to get some of the geese fostered into homes.

'At the moment there are so many geese they are fouling the water and the track,' he said.

'My understanding is in two weeks' time they will slowly start plucking them out at night time when they are nesting.'

A few months ago, an Auckland Council officer made a presentation to the local board about reducing the goose population, he said.

Thomas approached the officer and asked if the geese could be re-homed.

Last Friday, Thomas started a video campaign called Save the Geese on Facebook asking people to contact him if they were willing to foster a goose.

The video has since been shared more than 500 times and there have been 16 offers of potential new homes for the geese.

Thomas said the booming population was unbalanced and harmful to the surrounding environments but it was not the geese's fault.

'If we can rehome as many as possible, then I'll be happy.'

Auckland Council's head of operational management and maintenance, Agnes McCormack, said there were about 160 feral geese living at Western Springs Park.

'These geese eat up to 3kg of grass per bird, per day and then defecate 1.3kg per bird, per day,' she said.

'With the large number of birds at the park, this is causing a health hazard and is proving unsustainable for the park.'

Auckland Council received independent, professional advice on controlling the geese population and was told a sustainable population for the park was 20 birds, McCormack said.

'We have since been investigating methods to reduce the number of birds at Western Springs and, while this is still in early stages, a couple of methods included culling the birds or re-homing them.

'As part of our investigation, we are exploring restrictions or implications that re-homing the geese may have, especially as they are not domesticated.'

Contact rob@robthomas.co.nz.