Kelowna Capital News, July 15, 2015

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A pair of Canada geese near the Skaha Lake marina. There are leg tags on many of the 2,500 Canada geese in the Okanagan, used to monitor their travels.

Stopping Canada geese from polluting local waters Kevin Parnell kparnell@kelownacapnews.com

Canada geese: A namesake of our country and a true piece of Canadiana or a nuisance waterfowl scattering feces on beaches causing water quality issues. However you view the abundance of Canada geese in and around the Central Okanagan, one thing is for certain, it’s not their fault that they are here in the Okanagan setting up nests on balconies or roof-tops and doing their business on area beaches. No, Canada geese are in the

Okanagan thanks to the work of humans. By definition they are an invasive species, not native to the Okanagan Valley or anywhere else in southern B.C. They were brought here in the 1960s by well-meaning government wildlife agencies as well as conservation groups. “It dates back to the 1930s when the conservation of waterfowl was a big concern in Canada,” said Kate Hagmeier, a biologist who wrote her masters degree on migratory birds including Canada geese and whose company is contracted to help control the Okanagan goose

population. “By the 1960s, there was a well-intended program run by some agencies and not-forprofits to introduce geese into the west so we would have more aesthetic (water-fowl) as well as some hunting opportunities.” It may have been wellintended at the time, but the consequences of introducing an alien species to the Okanagan are far reaching. Thousands of dollars are spent each year trying to control Canada geese, who have no natural predator in the Okanagan and have become habituated to

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humans because people love to feed wildlife, even if it’s the worst thing for them. As well, even though Canada geese are a migratory bird that should be leaving its home for the winter months, flying to warmer climates, the Canada geese that live in the Okanagan don’t even know where it is they are supposed to migrate to because they were never taught by their parents. So instead they stay in the Okanagan year round. “There are 11 different subspecies of Canada geese in North

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