Sorry, Andrew, I can't see how culling 2,000 Canada Geese will significantly
reduce the risk of bird strikes.
The articles that you cited say that there are an estimated 25,000 Canada
Geese that migrate annually through the region and that there are between
20,000 and 25,000 resident Canada Geese. This equates to between 45-50
thousand Canada Geese that could potentially use the air-space close to the
airports. Therefore, culling would only reduce the total population by
between 4.0-4.4%. I doubt that this would significantly lower the risk of
bird strikes.
Presumably the culling is among the resident population of Canada Geese. As
the articles indicate, the recent strike involved migratory birds, so planes
still have to dodge at least 25,000 migratory birds, the same as before.
I am also of the opinion that other Canada Geese will move into the region
where others have been culled. I realize that there will be some alterations
to habitats and deterrent measures employed in and around NYC, but from
experience I don't think it is going to be that effective.
Cheers,
Stephen
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde, NSW
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Taylor
Sent: Saturday, 20 June 2009 1:51 PM
To: Stephen Ambrose
Cc:
Subject: Canada Goose Cull
Its been determined that it was migratory not resident geese
in the collision:
http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/090066
Apparently stable isotopes analysis indicated the birds had summered
in NE Canada.
The NY times has a long piece about plans to reduce the resident birds:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/nyregion/12geese.html
The cull could be a sensible part of a long term plan.
Andrew
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