Family of geese find new home in Doornpoort

A family of Egyptian geese have found a safe place for shelter in the backyard of a Doornpoort resident’s home.

Local resident of the area, Elaine Kruger, told Rekord that she and her husband noticed the family of one male and one female geese along with their five baby geese, move into their neighbour’s yard recently.

“I suspect that they were looking for shelter from the rain, which they now found. They probably wanderer into the yard because there is a deserted pool filled with water.

“Our neighbour works in Johannesburg and only comes home to his house here once every few months. So the geese are completely undisturbed and living in peace here,” Kruger told Rekord.

She said that the family originally consisted of six babies, but that one unfortunately passed away.

“I’m not sure how he passed away, but one day we saw that only five were left. It’s amazing to see how much they have grown in two weeks, which is how long they have been here,” she said.

“I have heard from people that they are mainly non-migratory and will generally move about only if water in their area is in short supply. But my husband and I are supplying them with feed.”

Whether the geese plan on staying long term depends on their ability to fly.

“I think once they start flying they’ll probably leave. I suspect they’re probably one month old, and they usually start flying at the age of 11 weeks.

“We don’t mind them at all here, we think they are extremely cute and they provide us with lots of laughs. At least they feel safe here and have taken to their new home very well. We’ll provide them with food as long as they wish to stay here,” Kruger said.

Tracy Rehse, director of Animal Collections at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Pretoria Zoo), said that the best thing to do when you find any “wild” animal in your yard, is to leave it alone.

“The geese will probably eventually move on as soon as the babies are old enough to fly,” she said.

“The best thing to do, in case you want the animals removed from your yard, is to call Tshwane Nature Conservation. They will have the animals removed safely and put them back into their natural habitat where possible.”

Rehse said, that although most people want to feed the animals, especially when it’s an animal that has been injured or a newborn, it can lead to some complications.

“If you feed them the correct food, it won’t have too many repercussions, except that they might become lazy and they might become territorial. If you wish to have the animals move on, it might be best not to feed them,” she concluded.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram