Nackawic has received a permit to kill of as many as 250 Canada geese that have been leaving a significant mess in the town's main park.

The small, western New Brunswick town has a flock of roughly 300 Canada geese fouling its waterfront park, which is home to the world's largest axe, with their droppings.

Frustrated by the town's inability to force the birds to leave, local officials applied to the Canadian Wildlife Service for permission for a cull.

Martin Raillard, the manager of population conservation with the Canadian Wildlife Service, said the town was granted a kill permit after it failed in its non-lethal attempts to get the birds to leave.

"The Town of Nackawic had to first show that they tried habitat alterations ... they have tried a number of other approaches and none of them has worked," Raillard said.

"They still have a large number of geese in the park. So after they have met all of those conditions, then we consider issuing a permit."

The cull could happen in few weeks when the geese are flightless, after moulting their wing feathers.

Raillard said eight other New Brunswick communities have applied for kill permits, but he wouldn't name those other communities.

Martin Raillard, the manager of population conservation with the Canadian Wildlife Service, said eight other communities have applied for kill permits to get rid of geese. (CBC)Before the kill permit was issued, Nackawic was also required to demonstrate that it had a long-term management plan to deal with the problem geese.

The town is planning to plant rose bushes and other shrubs along the waterfront, which will alter the habitat so geese will be less likely to return.

The wildlife service also said the cull must be carried out by a licenced wildlife control officer and done by a "humane method."

Controversial cull

The proposed cull has become extremely contentious in the town.

Nackawic officials have been inundated by messages protesting against the plan to kill some of the birds.

Some bird enthusiasts have promised to drive roughly 60 kilometres from Fredericton to clean up after the birds as long as the geese are not killed.

The National Capital Commission also discussed how it has controlled large geese populations in parks around Ottawa and Gatineau without killing any of the birds.

This isn't the first time Nackawic has applied to cull some of the geese.

The town also received a kill permit last year but it backed off the planned cull after public pressure.

New Brunswick has a breeding population of 7,000 Canada geese, roughly 1,000 more than the maximum conservation limit of the Canadian Wildlife Service.

The sharp rise in the number of geese in the province may be traced back more than a decade ago.

Back in 1997, the city of Toronto had a problem with too many Canada geese fouling its lakefront property.

So the city rounded them up and New Brunswick agreed to introduce a few dozen of the birds into the province's bird population.