N.B. naturalists cry foul over impact of Canada geese invasion
New Brunswick naturalists are worried about the impact on local wetlands when too many birds of a feather flock together.
The government imported 2,000 Canada geese to the province from Ontario 12 years ago after the birds became a nuisance to golfers and to park owners in Mississauga.
New Brunswick residents, however, are finding the birds just as much of a headache, and there are complaints other birds are suffering.
Five years ago, Edith Gillcash started having problems with Canada geese on her property in Memramcook, roughly 25 kilometres southeast of Moncton.
"We had king fisher [that] would come. He's not a swimming bird but he was happy," Gillcash said.
"So we had all these birds but when the Canada geese moved in that ended all the birds."
Dwayne Biggar, a local birdwatcher, said that seems to be the story around the province, as the Canada geese aren't making room for other birds when they turn up in local wetlands.
"The geese seem to be taking over the habitat for the other smaller waterfowl. I've heard quite a few people say that the male goose has killed the ducklings," Biggar said.
Geese also flocking to shopping centre area
The geese have even been spotted in middle of Moncton's busy traffic circle near Champlain Place mall.
Alain Clavette, a naturalist, said the geese will nest almost anywhere that's marshy.
"What happened 10 years since these geese were first brought in, is just an explosion of their population," Clavette said.
"Yes the geese are cute, yes they have a right to live. The geese are creating a problem of biodiversity of ecological integrity of our wetlands."
Clavette said it's going to take political will to deal with the issue. He said he just hopes something will be done before New Brunswick loses hundreds of its own species of waterfowl.
Geese replacing former bird population
Kevin Connor, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, said the 4,000 Canada geese that were introduced in the 1990s are just replacing a population that used to exist in New Brunswick.
Connor said the bird population is stable at roughly 5,000. He said people are noticing the Canada geese because they are living close to humans.
"Geese get along very well in close proximity to humans. Many of the practices that occur provide very suitable habitat for a species that'll take advantage of these areas, it's not unlike other species that do very well with humans. Other examples would be racoons or coyotes," he said.
In addition, Connor said the province has set up a two-week hunt to prevent the goose population from exploding.