Geese wandering on Kin Beach.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

A controversial Vernon goose cull program isn’t going ahead this year as the city waits on federal officials to give it the green light.

Goose cull permit applications were submitted to both the provincial and federal governments, but federal officials said they do not have the capacity to review the city’s application in order to complete the cull this year, according to documents submitted to city council during its regular meeting yesterday, June 14.

“Our application is not the only one that is facing the same issues. Without the approval from the federal government, staff cannot complete the cull. Administration will bring back options on how to progress for the June 28 regular council meeting,” reads the document presented to council.

Council voted in favour of spending $40,000 to cull roughly 250 geese earlier this year. The culling program would be an addition to the city's goose mitigation program. Currently, it spends $35,000 on goose scare tactics and $15,000 on an egg addling program.

READ MORE: Vernon council approves goose cull, but silent on kill method

Hundreds signed an online Change.org petition opposing the cull, calling it a waste of tax dollars.

Roughly 70 geese nests were found in and around Vernon last year, a significant increase compared to the 10 or 20 nests which had been present several years earlier, according to a city staff report.

Unlike the majority of geese in Canada, Okanagan geese are not native and were introduced to the area between the 1950s and 1970s and therefore do not migrate.

A geese cull should take place in June when geese molt and lose their flight feathers, according to the report.

The issue of goose poop on Kin Beach, Polson Park and Paddlewheel Park has been a source of annoyance for years, and councillor Dalvir Nahal previously said she's had endless inquiries from the public requesting something be done about the birds. 

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