Geese to be hunted in mass culling near Schiphol airport

Hunters will soon be allowed to hunt geese in a ten kilometer radius around Schiphol in an once-off event. This is necessary because the animals pose a threat to air traffic and a court banned the large-scale gassing of these birds, ANP reports. Responsible State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure and Environment told parliament on Tuesday that she expects culling by gas will be allowed again next year when it comes to these geese. But the animals pose such a risk to air traffic around the airport, that waiting is not an option. The number of collisions and near misses involving the animals and airplanes increased significantly, according to her. "Safety is paramount and we cannot haggle with that." Other ways of reducing the nuisance caused by geese are also being sought.