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Poor geese. All they want to do is fly, and maybe swim a little, in peace, but all the aviation safety talk has gotten in the way of that. After the US Airways incident in New York City earlier this year, airports around the country have been stepping up efforts to fight the geese "problem." New York City rounded up and gassed at least 2,000 geese in June and July—during their molting season, when they are at their most vulnerable and cannot fly—but they didn't even get the right kind of bird. The geese that took down the US Airways plane were migratory birds, while the ones that were sent to the gas chamber were resident geese—a crucial difference, as studies have shown that even if the roundups had been carried out a year earlier, it would have made no difference in what happened the day of the US Airways flight.
Killing a few geese here and there is not going to solve the conflict that has arisen over the apparently limited amount of flying space. But geese fly naturally, and we humans only pollute the air by doing so. The solution for air safety is not to exterminate geese while they're molting, especially when they're an entirely different species than the one that caused the problem everyone got so worked about.
More thorough and far-reaching research is needed for what an effective solution would look like, but flying less would be a great start.
To learn more, don't miss the Focus Earth Episode: Man Vs. Nature.
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