Call for airport cull of Canada geese

A growing population of 10,000 birds near Heathrow has sparked fears of a new crash like that in the Hudson river
Rajeev Syal
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009

Canada geese will need to be culled in their thousands because they pose an increasing risk to aircraft, a leading government adviser has revealed. Dr John Allan, an expert in bird management, warned that the birds were large enough to "bring a plane down" if sucked into an engine. He said that in Britain the numbers of the species had now reached 120,000.
Allan, head of the bird management team at the Central Science Laboratory, a government agency, said intensive culling was necessary to ensure passenger safety. His words follow last week's life-saving crash landing of a US Airways jet in the icy waters of New York's Hudson river. Both engines failed after it flew through a flock of Canada geese, according to the crew.
"This particular species can cause a problem because of their size. If they are sucked into an engine, they can bring a plane down," said Allan. "Their numbers have greatly increased across Britain, and so they will have to be culled, moved or restricted.
"While a small bird which is sucked into an aircraft's engine will not cause a problem, these geese are large enough to bring the engines to a halt. This is of great concern."
Allan said that Britain's airport authorities were already spending millions of pounds ensuring that flocks of birds, and Canada geese in particular, were kept away from airports and flight paths. Collisions between aircraft and birds cost the world civil aviation industry around £1.2bn a year and have resulted in the loss of 88 aircraft and 243 lives.
Canada geese, or Branta canadensis, easily recognised by their distinctive black head and neck and white chin-strap, are widespread in Britain. As their name suggests, they originated in the Canadian tundra and many winter in the southern swamplands of the United States. Some scientists claim that they are now choosing to winter in Europe because of global warming.
In Britain, their numbers are increasing by nearly 8% a year. They tend to fly in groups of 10 or 12 and so could overwhelm even a large engine designed to withstand a bird strike. Heathrow has a particular problem because around 10,000 of the birds roost in lakes and quarries south of the airport and feed to its north, making them likely to fly across the runways.
Measures were introduced to control the population in 1998 after a flock collided with a Boeing 767 coming in to land, causing damage to the nose, wing and left engine. Radar is now used to detect any within a six-mile radius. Efforts are then made to scare, move or kill the birds.
Canada geese are one of 13 species of birds - including gulls, crows and pigeons - which can be legally culled in Britain. Many are shot. Another method of controlling their numbers is to locate their eggs and either prick them with a pin or cover them in oil.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said that Canada geese posed no threat to native British birds, but recognised that they could pose a danger to air traffic. It backs the Wildlife and Countryside Act regulation that all humane methods of population control should be tried before culling is adopted.
The Canada Geese Conservation Society, based in Walthamstow, north-east London opposes a cull because the birds mate for life and can pine to death if a partner is killed.
The number of Canada geese in Britain is expected to rise to more than 200,000 by 2010, according to the British Trust for Ornithology, which monitors bird populations. That compares with just 3,600 in 1953.
Experts believe that the rapid increase began in the 1970s and 1980s after the birds were deemed to be gathering in excessive numbers in parks and lakes and were moved on.
Dr Graham Austin, the trust's senior research ecologist, said: "Councils and park keepers were unwittingly helping to spread their numbers. As a result, they are everywhere and can be quite a nuisance."