ANIMAL rights activists today launched a last-ditch attempt to save the threatened Canada geese in York's Rowntree Park.

Fearing that the planned cull of about 50 of the birds will go ahead during the annual moult in June or July, they have made a final appeal to City of York Council for clemency.

The activists say they have the weight of public opinion behind them and claim that the council "is acting incorrectly and possibly unlawfully" in pressing forward with the cull.

"There are few enough opportunities for York people to see wildlife at close quarters," said Alan Robertshaw, spokesman for York Animal Aid.

"We should be able to co-exist with such wildlife and not reach for lethal injections as soon as someone thinks the park is a bit of a mess.

"We are not arguing that nothing should be done, but that there are many other alternatives which are at least as effective and which need to be tried."

York Animal Aid is currently taking advice from internationally-renowned goose expert Dr Jayne Cuthbert, who has also offered her services to the council in the hope of coming up with an alternative to the cull.

They claim there is no scientific proof that goose droppings pose a threat to human health - the grounds on which City of York Council applied for a licence to cull.

Another part of York Animal Aid's 11th-hour strategy could be a legal challenge.

The law states that the geese have to cause a "significant problem" and the Department of the Environment must be satisfied there is "no other satisfactory solution" before the killings can go ahead.

"How could the council, in all conscience, have made an application to cull knowing that the only method previously tried to control the geese was asking people in the park not to feed them?" asked Mr Robertshaw.

"We hope that the council will feel able to review its position and decide not to cull - a decision which would be supported by most people in York as well as being legally and scientifically correct."

A City of York Council spokeswoman said the authority had agreed to look into the issues raised by York Animal Aid.

"The cull will not go ahead until these issues are resolved," she said.

PICTURE: A Canada goose: facing cull