Wild geese are spreading more and more in Bavaria. In some places this causes problems. The voracious birds can cause immense damage in fields, but there are also conflicts in the cities and around bathing lakes such as Lake Starnberg and Lake Altmühl. There the geese find ideal habitats and, to the annoyance of some guests, pollute bathing beaches, sunbathing areas and paths. The local authorities who are trying to get the flock of geese and their legacies under control have to pay for it.
Every morning during the warm months, employees of the Zweckverband in Gunzenhausen in Central Franconia go out to the Altmühlsee to clean the beach, meadow and paths with buckets and shovels. The personnel expenses alone cost 60,000 euros a year, says Managing Director Daniel Burmann. The association has already done everything possible: He has tried to scare away the geese with kites. He has created additional areas on which the geese should settle instead. He put up fences to keep them off the beach. “Despite these measures, the population continues to increase,” says Burmann.
According to Christian Wagner from the State Institute for Agriculture (LfL) in Freising, the number of grey, Canada and Egyptian geese in Bavaria cannot be precisely quantified. At Altmühlsee alone there were around 3,500 wild geese in June – and their population is increasing by almost ten percent every year, says Bavaria’s geese manager. In particularly affected regions, a goose management should defuse the conflicts, with Wagner advising throughout Bavaria. The LfL is currently testing various concepts at the Altmühlsee and in the Main valley between Bamberg and Haßfurt. The measures that could best prevent the geese from spreading further differ from place to place, says Wagner. “Of course, hunting is a powerful tool. In some areas, however, it is difficult to implement because there are too many people around.”
An example of this is Nuremberg. The Wöhrder See east of the city center attracts families, sunbathers and sports enthusiasts in droves to the shore during the warm months. But often it is necessary to avoid groups of geese and piles of excrement. The complaints have increased in the past. In 2018, the city approved the geese for shooting, but backed down after protests. “The situation has eased in recent years because people have gotten used to it,” says André Winkel from the Public Space Service (SÖR).
In addition, Nuremberg is currently testing the treatment of the scrims in a project supported by the LfL. To do this, SÖR employees take eggs from the goose’s nest and prick them – if there is no embryo yet – to stop their development. Then they put the eggs back in the nest. Two always remain unharmed. “It’s a good way to keep the population in check,” says Winkel. According to Wagner, the clutch treatment is also currently being tested at Altmühlsee, in the Main Valley and in the Straubing area. From 2023 onwards, it should then be possible to use it everywhere.