June 17, 2009

Photos: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Employees from the United States Department of Agriculture corralled geese on Randalls Island into a metal pen.

A gaggle of geese who were, at least temporarily, calling Randalls Island home were the target on Wednesday, the third day of a citywide roundup of geese that is expected to result in the killing of some 2,000 birds. Authorities say the operation is a necessary measure to keep civil aviation safe, but animal rights activists have excoriated the culling, calling it unnecessary and inhumane.

The geese are being removed from more than 40 city-owned parks and other facilities within five miles of the city’s airports. The operation is a response to the bird strike that resulted in the nearly disastrous ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January.

Officials say the geese must be rounded up and killed to protect aircraft.