Cormorants and their acidic poop are causing a stink on Toronto islands. What can be done?

LISTEN | Are they pests that need to be reigned in, or key players in habitats that need to be preserved?: The Sunday Magazine 23:07 Sunday Documentary: The Cormorant Conundrum

It’s safe to say that double-crested cormorants are causing a stink — in more ways than one — on the Toronto islands.

They poop everywhere, which is driving people away. And since that poop is acidic, it’s also bleaching and destroying the trees they nest in.

“Rome is burning, and the bureaucrats are fiddling. Each year it gets worse and worse, with more carnage and death to the trees,” said Warren Hoselton, who worked on the islands as the park supervisor for over two decades.

“We manage Canada geese, we manage beavers — and we're letting these guys have at it.”

Around 18,000 double-crested cormorant