Letters to the Editor: Echo Park Lake belongs to the geese. Humans are just visitors

To the editor: Your article on the proliferation of Canada geese at Echo Park Lake touches on public parks in urban settings that are underfunded, and where the disregarding of regulations can lead to confrontations between people and wildlife. The photographs with the story speak volumes. The problem is not the geese.

We in Echo Park are fortunate to have wildlife to see and study at close range. Although the lake is a polluted body of water, it holds an array of lessons about invasive aquatic plants, turtles and thoughtlessly discarded trash.

The Edendale Branch Library on Sunset Boulevard has a backpack for borrowing that holds a pair of binoculars, a book on birds and other materials that contribute to many moments of awe and joy at the lake. Treated and seen as a wildlife refuge, Echo Park Lakes asks more of us as its keepers.

When near wildlife, exercise caution and respect the animals’ territory. Do not come between their young or food, and do not act in a way to alarm them. Coexisting is a beneficial experience.

Ida Talalla, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Canada geese are not just wild; they are also native.

Coexisting with wildlife means following the rules of Echo Park Lake: Walking your dog on a leash will keep dogs from nipping at protective parents and their babies, refraining from fishing will protect birds and pets alike from dangerous hooks, and resisting the temptation to feed wildlife — especially bread, which may cause them to develop disabilities — will encourage their migration.

We also must understand that removing a fence without replacing it with natural foliage, known as a riparian buffer, serves as an invitation for more geese to move in.

Killing native wildlife that will simply be replaced by neighboring flocks is both cruel and a waste of taxpayer money. However, rescuing the hordes of domestic waterfowl that have been abandoned at the lake is certainly an idea I could get on board with.

John Di Leonardo, Moriches, N.Y.

The writer, an anthrozoologist and wildlife rehabilitator, is executive director of the group Duck Defenders.