A man captured on cellphone camera appearing to "steal" a gosling from Vancouver's Stanley Park could face fines for his bizarre actions.
James Beer told CTV News he recorded the video Friday near Lost Lagoon after witnessing a cyclist attempting to take the gosling. Beer said he saw the stranger stomp at the gosling's parents to chase them off before picking up one of the palm-sized baby birds.
He said he heard the man say he was going to take the bird home, then saw him put it in his shirt.
Beer then took out his phone and confronted the person, saying, "Put it back, dude. Put it back. I've got you on camera."
The man is seen lowering the chirping bird to the ground, then the gosling scampers back to its parents.
"It's not a toy, it's a living creature," Beer says, then calls the man a "scumbag."
The strange scene is something Vancouver Park Board biologist Nick Page said he's never seen before.
"It's the first time I've seen or heard of a situation like this where someone's actually trying to take a young goose away," Page said Monday.
"We'll follow up with our ranger staff to make sure that they're not hearing more reports of these kind of occurrences."
Page showed CTV what happens when a person walks up to a family of geese. The birds hiss and bob their heads dramatically, behaviour Page said lets the potential threat know they're being watched.
He said those using the park should stick to the path and try not to get too close.
Canada geese are protected under both federal and provincial laws, meaning those caught violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act or B.C.'s Wildlife Act can be fined for their actions.
In this case, B.C. is deferring to Ottawa, but Environment Canada would only confirm that wildlife officers will follow up when complaints are received.
CTV News is still working to clarify the possible penalties.
Beer said he reported the incident to the BC SPCA, but officials said there was nothing they could do since they couldn't identify the man in the video.
"They were stopped this time. Hopefully they never try again," he said.
The attempted gosling theft was not the first incident Beer witnessed. He told CTV he saw someone try to grab a heron at the park in the winter.
Photographer Paul Dixon said it all comes down to awareness and respect.
"It's not the little children, it's the adults who are the boneheads," he said. "They live here. You're in somebody else's house… Give them their space."
With a report from CTV Vancouver's David Molko
