Armed police were called to a holiday park in Chichester after reports that geese were being shot.
Lakeside Holiday Park hired contractors to cull geese while the complex was closed to stop them becoming a nuisance to guests.
But after activists discovered what was going on, they called police, who sent armed officers to investigate.
Police have confirmed that no crime took place and the cull has now been stopped – but West Sussex Wildlife Protection (WSWP) has called on Lakeside Holiday Park to stop the practice permanently.
Simon Wild, co-founder of WSWP, said: “Yesterday, there were men with guns in the holiday homes complex, shooting right in the middle of it.
“They shot and wounded a bird and it came down near some anglers by the lake. He was shouting and swearing at the contractors and armed police turned up shortly after that, using drones.
“I have written to the site owners to say that we want them to stop.”
The woman who took the pictures above said she started recording video after hearing a gunshot on the site. She said: “It’s appalling. They should put a fence around the lake or stop the geese in another way – you can’t just shoot them.”
A spokesman for Park Holidays UK, which owns the holiday park, said: “A limited culling of geese at Chichester Lakeside was carried out in order to safeguard the breeding habitats and feeding resources of other indigenous wildlife in the grounds of the park, and to prevent an excess of numbers causing a nuisance to park guests.
“The work, which is now completed, was carried out humanely within strict legal guidelines by a professional contractor with the necessary licences to ensure full compliance with the relevant authorities.”
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Armed officers were deployed due to the initial nature of the report (people shooting firearms).
“No offences were committed; authority for the shooting was permitted by the land owner.”
