DENVER, COLORADO
1,662 geese killed in Denver's now-completed effort to control population in city's parks
City officials say they'll re-evaluate the practice of culling geese next year.
By Jessica Seaman
July 11, 2019
Denver's roundup of more than 1,600 geese from the city's parks has come to an end - for now.
Through a program initiated by local and federal officials, Canada geese were culled in recent weeks from four of Denver's parks: Sloan's Lake, Washington Park, City Park and Garfield Lake Park, said Cyndi Karvaski, spokeswoman for Denver Parks & Recreation.
The roundup, an effort to control the large bird's population, is over for the year, Karvaski said. The geese were captured and killed, and were to be cooked and served by an anonymous organization for families in need, officials have said.
Under it's permit, the USDA is allowed to cull up to 2,200 Canada geese statewide. Officials collected and killed 1,662 geese from Denver's parks, said USDA's spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa.
That permit also lists other types of birds - including great horned owls, mallards and mourning doves - that the USDA would be allowed to take lethal action against if the species was causing damage to the area, but none of those birds were culled from Denver's parks, Espinosa said.
When the program became public last month, city officials estimate that about 5,000 geese live in Denver year-round, while many thousands more make the city a pit stop during their winter north-south migration.
Next year, city officials will reevaluate whether they will continue the program by examining the number of goose droppings and how the waterfowl's population is affecting the parks , Karvaski said.
Last week, more than 130 animal advocates and geese-loving residents held a protest in Washington Park and signed a petition that asked the city to stop killing the waterfowl and only use nonlethal means to reduce goose poop in parks.
RELATED: Protestors flock to Washington Park to protest Denver culling Canada geese.
OPINION: The mass killing of Denver's geese is cause for concern and outrage