Eleventh-hour bid to stop goose cull 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.