A nesting Canada goose that made headlines over the weekend for receiving VIP treatment at the Vancouver Convention Centre will no longer be a mother.
Vancouver’s Board of Parks and Recreation replaced her freshly-laid eggs with frozen ones Monday (May 9) morning, in its ongoing effort to reduce the city’s goose population.
Convention centre staff discovered the goose on Friday (May 6), keeping her eggs warm atop its Pacific Terrace, and immediately jumped into action to keep her safe ahead of Mother’s Day. They used belt stanchions to cordon off the area around her, and worked with Helijet to divert a helicopter that was set to land nearby.
They named her Heli and put out a news release on Mother’s Day asking the public to keep a safe distance from her.
The next day though, convention centre staff were informed their efforts had been for naught. The Vancouver parks board told them they would be replacing Heli’s eggs with infertile ones.
In a statement Tuesday, the board said its actions were in line with its annual Canada geese management practices. It says an overpopulation of the birds is wreaking havoc on Vancouver’s public spaces.
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