Volunteers have failed to catch and relocate eight geese from Watson Park despite a week-long time extension, so the birds will be shot this week, the Dunedin City Council says.
The gaggle were still alive yesterday afternoon after an execution order issued two and a-half weeks ago was stayed to enable less radical ways of banishing the birds to be tried, ultimately unsuccessfully.
The issue of what to do with the geese started after repeated defecation on the park annoyed sports teams and prompted health concerns.
The council has assured Port Chalmers School principal Vicki Nicolson there will be no shooting during school hours.
"That's not something I would like children to be seeing. They would be distraught,'' she said.
There was "awareness'' by the children of the goose issue and they fell into "two camps''. One group was sick of playing on the fields at lunchtimes and getting covered in goose faeces while the other group was "really quite concerned'' the geese had to die.
Children playing at the edge of Mussel Bay yesterday said the geese were "cool'' but "pretty annoying'' for children using the fields.
Pupil Riley Hill (9) said the birds "pooped'' all over the field and playing rugby was tough.
"They [players] usually get tackled on the goose poo,'' he said.
Council parks and recreation group manager Richard Saunders said that the council was grateful for the efforts of the volunteers and it was "unfortunate'' they had been unsuccessful in their attempts.
"[The] council will now be commencing the culling of the birds.''
There was no set timeframe for the extermination but it would be sometime this week, he said.
"The contractors are experienced working in all environments and will take all precautions when undertaking the work.''
The council would investigate long-term options to prevent the recurrence of the goose issue, he said.
