This summer marks the seventh year in a dynamic partnership between the Columbus Zoo and Ohio Wildlife Center’s SCRAM! Wildlife Control Division to reduce the Canada geese population on the zoo’s property, including the golf course and Zoombezi Bay.
SCRAM!’s geese mitigation program has been a win-win solution of working with the zoo to decrease nesting and breeding across zoo grounds to keep pathways clear of geese for zoo visitors. Key to its success is has been an emphasis on education and collaboration with zoo staff.
SCRAM! Director Adam Turpen oversees the mitigation program and each year he meets with 49 zoo team members, including keepers, to discuss the program tactics and build the annual plan. SCRAM! technicians coordinate plans with zoo team members to help identify nest locations and monitor egg laying so geese can then be moved out of problem areas.
“It’s not unusual for geese to create nests in high areas and we’ve had to deal with that on the roof of the pachyderm building,” Turpen said. SCRAM! is on-site five days a week during the spring and summer season and uses various techniques, including
border collies, to keep the geese away from public spaces and discourage nest building. SCRAM’s program decreased the population of geese born on zoo grounds by 91 percent since 2011.
In 2011, when the program started, there were 256 Canada geese at the zoo and that is now down to about 30. During the peak Canada geese breeding season at the zoo, Turpen provides daily emails to zoo staff on SCRAM! actions. Zoo team members are also in constant contact with Turpen to report new nests or activity. SCRAM! technicians also educate zoo guests about the program and the zoo has added signage to inform guests about the negative effects of feeding the geese.
“We have a total buy-in of the program by the animal care staff at the zoo,” Turpen said. “We’ve documented a reduction in aggressive behavior, droppings on the public walkways, coliforms in the water sources and overall population.”
The goal for both organizations is to have the geese thrive in their natural environment surrounding the zoo on the Scioto River, but not to live on zoo grounds.
“It definitely takes a village for this program to be effective,” said Shelly Roach, registrar at the Columbus Zoo. “Because SCRAM! understands the biology of this species, their strategies for goose eradication really work,” she added.
For more information on SCRAM! Wildlife control visit www.SCRAMwildlife.org or call (614) 763-0696.