Canada geese in happier times, at Waiwhetū Stream, Lower Hutt. Photo: Sandra Goedhart
A recent goosenapping attempt at Waiwhetū Stream left a Lower Hutt resident "shaken" and no choice but to intervene.
Sandra Goedhart described a car pulling up to feed the birds on Sunday, when the passenger leapt out and onto a Canada goose, bundling it into the car.
Goedhart, who had fed the avian wildlife for at least 20 years, said she stood in front of the car, maintaining no one was "going to take my geese".
A cyclist riding past intervened, as did Goedhart's husband, who removed the bird from the boot and plonked it back in the stream.
At that point the pair in the car took off, Goedhart said.
The bird, meanwhile, appeared unruffled.
Goedhart said she had never seen anything like it.
"In the back of the car they had a cage, all ready for it. So they knew what they were doing, they came prepared."
There are a number of Canada geese at the stream. Photo: Sandra Goedhart
The incident left Goedhart shaken, she said, and in disbelief it could be legal to take a goose from a public area.
"It was very scary. We have lots of children that come and feed the ducks here and it could have happened in front of them and it would have just been awful."
She had since filed a police report and tried to clarify whether taking a goose was a crime.
"Nobody seems to know ... is it legal?"
Fair play or fowl play?
Police confirmed a report of an attempted goosenapping in the area had been received, but said it did not appear to be a common complaint.
On the question of criminality, police referred RNZ to information on the hunting status of Canada geese.
Like many introduced species, Canada geese were brought into the country in the 19th Century for recreational hunting and their numbers exploded.
The species - particularly in rural New Zealand - came to be a nuisance, damaging waterway health, eating farm animal pasture, and out-competing native wetland birds.
Photo: 123RF
In 2011, the Department of Conservation (DOC) removed the bird from Fish and Game's responsibility and the need for a hunting licence to kill it.
It had the same protection as a sparrow - landowners, land occupiers or local authorities can humanely control the bird as they see fit.
Where included in councils' pest management plans, funding was set aside for culls of the geese.
The Greater Wellington Regional Council does not list Canada geese as a pest.
However, Masterton District Council - which falls within Greater Wellington - carried out annual culling operations of the bird around Lake Henley.
The council came under fire in 2011 when witnesses reported geese being bludgeoned to death - a technique no longer used.
In response to RNZ's questions about the specific incident at the stream, DOC said because the goose was neither an official pest, nor a protected species, it was not something it would handle.
"The local council would be best to follow-up with for further comment about the attempted goosenapping."
Hutt City Council responded, but was yet to provide comment.
On the question of animal cruelty, the Ministry of Primary Industries said it only policed and upheld standards with regard to farmed animals.
Meanwhile, the SPCA said a wild goose would have some protection under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, but offences of reckless or ill-treatment would have to be proven.
From the point of capture, the act required the treatment (or killing) of the animal to be humane.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.