WITH summer in full swing, Durban’s residential areas are alive with the sights and sounds of suburban wildlife. One increasingly common visitor to gardens at this time of the year is the Egyptian goose, whose population numbers have been steadily growing over the past few years.
A letter was recently sent to the Highway Mail concerning a family of Egyptian geese that had taken up residence in a pool and how to remove them without harming them. Local wildlife experts, CROW, responded.
“Unlike some of our local wildlife, whose existence is being severely threatened by human development and urbanisation, our ever-expanding cities and suburbs are proving an ideal breeding site for Egyptian geese. In addition to a warm climate, Egyptian geese look for access to a fresh water source and an area with plentiful food. So be it your swimming pool, an eco-estate or a golf course, our Egyptian Geese are currently spoilt for choice when it comes to sites to rear their young,” said Claire Hodgkinson, director at CROW.
Cases of human and wildlife conflict between Egyptian geese, humans and their domestic pets have inevitably increased too over the past few years.
“Five years ago, we dealt with only a handful of cases involving injured, orphaned and displaced Egyptian geese. To date, CROW has rescued, rehabilitated and released 442 Egyptian geese in distress since the start of the breeding season in September last year. The centre’s resources and facilities are being placed under severe strain, to the point that in October we had no choice but to start a waiting list for non-emergency cases, as we simply ran out of space,” said Hodgkinson.
So what should you do if you wake up to find a family of Egyptian geese has moved into your back garden and swimming pool overnight? “That depends,” said Claire. “We know of many people who take great delight in having a family of Egyptian geese take up residence in their back yards. It certainly can be a great experience for young children and an opportunity to teach them about nature.”
For Highway residents who are happy to have these feathered guests on their property for a few weeks, and if there is no threat from cats or dogs, Claire advises you to leave them be.
In instances where the Egyptian geese are in danger of being attacked by cats or dogs, then relocating them to a safer site may be the better option. However, given the sheer number of calls for assistance that CROW is currently receiving regarding Egyptian geese, Claire is appealing to the public to work with them in safely catching up families of geese that need to be collected and relocated by their team.
“The biggest problem we have is that to give the goslings the best chance of survival, we need to catch mom and dad too. Herein lies the problem, as they simply fly away as soon as we arrive with our catch and throw nets. Thankfully, what we have been finding is a huge help is if the home owner is prepared to lend us a helping hand by getting the family into any enclosed area such as a garage or shed before we arrive.
“This is relatively easy to do with a washing or laundry basket. Gently scoop up each of the goslings and place them in the basket. Then, with mom and dad watching you, take the goslings and place the basket in your open garage or shed. Soon enough, mom and dad will make their way into the room to be close to their babies. As soon as they’re in, close the door and contact CROW to come and catch them.”
CROW is a non-profit, registered wildlife rehabilitation centre that is committed to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing all injured, orphaned and displaced indigenous wildlife in KZN. Contact 031 462 1127 or e-mail info@crowkzn.co.za.
