The Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program – a partnership between the Central Okanagan Regional District, Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen, City of Penticton, Town of Osoyoos, Town of Oliver, District of Summerland and other jurisdictions up the valley.

In eight years more than 10,000 eggs have been prevented from hatching through this minimally invasive approach. Taking into account natural mortality of young through predation or nest failure, that is equivalent to, at minimum, 7,500 fewer geese in the valley and all their potential young

The egg-addling (shaking) program helps prevent an increase in the non-migratory resident goose population of about 2,500 birds. The geese inhabit the valley year round and do not migrate.

Contractors have already been searching for pairs and nesting sites, and hope to complete the addling program by mid-May.

“Most communities along the valley struggle with management of non-migratory Canada geese,” said program co-ordinator Kate Hagmeier. “What many people fail to understand, and a large part of the message that we want to provide, is that the geese we are targeting are not native species to the area. These geese are largely descendants of geese that were translocated here as part of an introduction program in the 1960s and ’70s. Young geese and eggs were brought here from different areas in Canada to encourage the creation of an Okanagan goose population.”

What was not foreseen was the inability of these geese to migrate because they had no natural parents to teach them, along with their ability to adapt and thrive to the mild Okanagan climate. The consequences have been a growing population with few natural controls and a need to manage that population.