Strategies for Resident Canada Goose Control and Management in New Jersey
- First Paragraph:
- The overabundance of resident Canada geese (Branta canadensis) in the eastern US has significant negative impacts on both ecosystem and human health. Intolerable levels of negative human-goose interactions, including agricultural damage, habitat degradation, aircraft strikes, and environmental contamination, make managing resident goose populations a necessity. In NJ, the resident Canada goose population exceeds 80,000 individuals (based on 2012 surveys), far greater than historic numbers. A lack of natural predators and high-quality food resources have greatly increased survival, throwing the population out of balance with the ecosystem that supports it. While Canada geese do contribute to our state’s biodiversity and are part of our cultural heritage, reducing the population size to historic levels has many benefits for both humans and wildlife. Here we present several strategies for the regulation of the NJ resident Canada goose population. No strategy is completely effective; therefore, combining these methods in an integrated approach will maximize effectiveness.
- Publication Number:
- FS1217
- Author(s):
- Brooke Maslo
Chloe Lewis
- Publisher:
- Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension
- Date Published:
- 10/16/2013
- Number of pages:
- 4
- Tags:
- wildlife management; wildlife damage; ecosystem health; nuisance species
