Group uses gosling rescue at North Park to educate people on properly helping wildlife in need

A sad sight at North Park led to a unique wildlife rescue. The group behind the rescue is now hoping to use this story to educate people on how to properly help wildlife in need.

A gosling was spotted along Lakeshore Drive at North Park, but something wasn't right. 

"One of our Wildlife in Need volunteers, Rebecca Reid was out helping another goose, and she noticed this juvenile gosling hanging around people, following people around the park, kind of hanging out by himself. So, she asked a couple of friends that she knows who frequents the park to keep an eye out for him. And they noticed him walking along with people, trying to go on the road. Not really hanging out with the other geese, kind of being ignored and isolated," said Shannon Sapolich, Wildlife Works Senior staff member.

They discovered that the silly goose doesn't think he's a goose; he thinks he's a human. 

"He basically knows how to speak people and doesn't really know how to how to talk to other geese," said Sapolich.

The volunteer went back to the park and caught the gosling and brought him to Wildlife Works in Youngwood. Sapolich believes he was likely dumped at North Park.

"Someone probably gosling-napped him when he was younger, or he was orphaned, and they took him in with the best intentions of trying to bring him up and release him back into the wild," says Sapolich. "But if you don't quite know exactly what you're doing, they can become habituated to people, which means they get used to people feeding them, they feel comfortable and safe around people, they don't really understand that they're a goose."

Sapolich says Canada geese are very social and spend the first year or two with their family. Wildlife Works says that the process of rehabilitation begins. 

"He's doing OK. He is very, very habituated to people, more so than some of the other geese that I've had in this situation," says Sapolich. "He is going to be exposed to other geese, other goslings, but it's going to be a bit of a slow process. We just have to work on his socialization and help him learn that he's a bird and not a person."

Sapolich says if he had been brought to a wildlife center when he was first found, he would have been properly rehabilitated and released. 

"We have wildlife rehabbers in the area who are trained and licensed in taking care of waterfowl in particular," says Sapolich. "They're federally protected, so it is illegal to try to rehab them on your own at home."

Sapolich hopes that within a few months, the animal will be able to waddle and fly with a flock after learning to socialize. 

"The overall goal is for him to learn to speak to other geese to fit into a flock, to learn to socialize. And then he'll be released and be able to live with a flock," she said.