Tell Mayor Mamdani: End New York City's Agreements with USDA Wildlife Services
Mayor Zohran Mamdani
Most New Yorkers have no idea that a federal wildlife control agency—the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services—is authorized to operate in New York City parks and at its only wildlife refuge.
Under agreements with city agencies, Wildlife Services destroys nests, addles eggs, shoots wild birds, coyotes, deer, and other mammals at airports, rounds up many hundreds of Canada geese for slaughter annually for reasons that are highly questionable, and carries out other wildlife control operations on public lands with little public awareness or meaningful public oversight.
These practices raise serious legal and ethical concerns.
According to legal counsel involved in this campaign, Wildlife Services has carried out operations without the environmental review required under New York law. Humane guidelines are violated when goose eggs are destroyed beyond the 14-day limit established for humane egg addling. In documented cases, eggs were destroyed only days before they were expected to hatch.
Female geese spend nearly a month incubating their nests through rain, wind, and changing temperatures. When their eggs are removed, many continue sitting on empty nests for days, while others remain near the nest site exhibiting prolonged signs of distress.
Advocates have also documented evidence of failed egg addling that resulted in severely deformed goslings hatching and later dying.
Parks are supposed to be places of joy and life not of terror and death. A wildlife refuge that allows its wild inhabitants to be killed is no refuge. Yet we New Yorkers have had little opportunity to participate in decisions affecting the creatures who share such spaces with us. And the round-ups and killings are having a devastating effect on the morale of many.
We believe New York City can do better.
We are therefore calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to issue an executive order terminating New York City's agreements with USDA Wildlife Services and directing city agencies not to enter into new agreements until the required environmental review process, with public input, has been completed and the city's wildlife policies have been thoroughly evaluated. Allowing for truly responsible coexistence with our wild neighbors will make New York City a model of enlightenment for the entire country.
Add your name and help bring that change to New York City.
*This petition is a collaborative effort of GooseSave NYC, the Humane Party of New York, and advocates committed to advancing humane, transparent, and ethics-based wildlife policies in New York City.**A note on the Humane Party’s position: The Humane Party is an abolitionist political party committed to animal liberation. We support meaningful policy reforms that reduce suffering, exploitation, and harm while recognizing that individual reforms are steps—not the endpoint. Our goal remains a society in which animals are no longer exploited, commodified, or treated as property.
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To:
Mayor Zohran Mamdani
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, respectfully urge you to issue an Executive Order directing New York City agencies to terminate existing agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program and to refrain from entering into new agreements while the City's review of wildlife policy and environmental processes is underway.
New Yorkers deserve wildlife policies that reflect transparency, accountability, scientific integrity, and humane stewardship of public resources.
We respectfully ask your administration to lead by establishing New York City as a national model for humane wildlife governance.
Thank you for your consideration.