NYC to Remove Canada Geese Near Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports

NEW YORK - New York will remove thousands of Canada geese from city-owned properties near John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports as part of a strategy to keep the birds from interfering with flights.

The city said in a statement that it’s contracting with the U.S. Agriculture Department to “remove and dispose of” Canada geese from about 40 parks, wastewater treatment plants and other properties within 5 miles (8 kilometers) of the two airports from mid-June to the end of July, during the birds’ molting season.

The city said it will also fill in a depression on Rikers Island that’s known to attract geese, and install new signs banning the feeding of animals at parks within 5 miles of the airports.

The city estimates the program will remove as many as 2,000 of the region’s 20,000 to 25,000 resident Canada geese. The steps are the first taken by a city committee formed after US Airways Group Inc. Flight 1549 struck a flock of birds Jan. 15 and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River.

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Source: Bloomberg News