Animal lovers rush to protect Canada Geese who may have to be killed at Milton Keynes beauty spot
The Canada geese at Milton Keynes Marina hit the headlines last year when a pair of resident swans adopted a clutch of tiny goslings and raised them as their own – earning them the title of the world’s first ‘swoslings’.
But the swoslings have now multiplied and, according to bosses at the Peartree Bridge-based marina, they are becoming a downright nuisance.
The marina is now considering culling the growing Canada goose population by using its rights under GL41, a licence issued by Natural England that permits landowners, occupiers, and authorised persons to kill certain species of wild birds to preserve public health or public safety.
Local residents have confirmed that Canada geese have lived, nested, and raised young at the marina for decades… They have made it clear that many people living around the marina actively enjoy having the geese there and consider them part of the character of the area,” said founder Allie Humphries.
She added: “The birds involved are part of a long-established population which has coexisted with residents without any previously identified issue requiring action. Why has it only now become a problem after more than 30 years of the birds living and breeding there?
Clear answers are needed regarding exactly what measures are being proposed, whether those measures relate only to future preventative nesting management, whether any action is being considered against existing birds or active nests, and what legal and evidential basis is being relied upon.”
The Citizen spoke to the management at MK Marina, whose spokesperson confirmed that action to curb the Canada goose population was being considered, although no definate plans have yet been made.
"All options will be explored and we reserve the right to do what we have to do within the law,” he said.
He added: The Canada geese are a nuisance and an invasive species. They kill whole clutches of baby ducklings and I have to fish the dead bodies out of the water. Fifty plus duckling have been killed this year.”
However, MK Swan Rescue say the main killers of tiny ducklings are crows and seagulls, who naturally prey on the creatures at the marina.
The managers says there are “hordes” of the geese at the marina causing problems with noise and fouling and prompting complaints from boaters. But MK Swan Rescue volunteers insisit there are only around half a dozen of them, some of which nest in gardens of neighbouring properties.
Allie said: “Canada geese may divide opinion, but they remain protected wild birds, and any management of them must be lawful, proportionate, justified, transparent, and humane.”
The marina spokesperson said: “The whole thing has been blown out of proportion,” he said. “Yes, we may have to reduce the Canada goose population, as we are legally entitled to, but killing them would be a last resort.”