They waddle through parks and leave their excrement behind: wild geese have become a real nuisance in some large cities. The city of Cologne now wants to try to get the problem under control with new measures.
Cologne (dpa / lnw) - Parks and meadows full of goose droppings: The city of Cologne has commissioned a report to curb the wild geese problem that has existed for years. With the help of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV) NRW, "appropriate measures" should then be developed to reduce the number of animals and thus the pollution, said a spokeswoman.
Among other things, some of the eggs are to be removed from the nests in the future - similar to Düsseldorf. In addition, certain areas could be made unattractive as breeding grounds for wild geese. The report that the commissioned office will shortly present to the environmental committee should serve as the basis for these measures. The "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" had previously reported.
In a first step, biologists counted the animals. An average of 600 Canada geese and 70 Egyptian geese were sighted on 20 waters.
Wild geese are a problem in Cologne - but also in other large cities in North Rhine-Westphalia - because they bring dirt and noise into the green spaces. In some areas of Cologne's parks you can't take a step without stepping on excrement. According to the city, hunting in inner-city facilities is prohibited. In addition, there are also many citizens who rejected the reduction measures and fed geese.
For some time now, the city of Dusseldorf has been operating a "lay management" and removes eggs from the nests so that fewer birds are hatched. Feeding bans were also introduced. "The population has not increased further since the measures began," said a spokesman on request. Last year, the number of young birds even fell significantly.
