Lake Balboa Park in Van Nuys is mostly known for its cherry blossoms, jacaranda trees and sprawling jogging path. The urban park is also a haven for hundreds of birds, including the Egyptian goose, Wild Muscovy duck and Mute swan.
A group of volunteers who patrol the park worry that it’s about to change as the place becomes a popular fishing spot for anglers — some of whom dump their lines, hooks and nets, causing wild birds to critically injure themselves and even die.
Volunteers with the Balboa Park Rescue team report finding birds with fishing tackle or net wrapped around their legs, making it impossible for them to walk or fly.
“If you think about a duck or geese, they don’t have fingers and there’s no way to take off the fishing line,” said Lisa Levinson, campaign’s director of In Defense of Animals group. “They walk in it and it gets more tangled and becomes very tight around their limbs.”
Rescuers find birds with plastic fishing lines wrapped around their legs so tight, their blood circulation stops, causing birds to lose their feet.
“There are a lot of one-legged birds there,” Levinson said.
Volunteers also fill bags with dumped fishing gear daily, she added. Just recently, a young girl suffered an injury after a fishing hook pierced through her shoe.
“It’s like a never-ending cycle,” Levinson said. “Something needs to be done.”
The park is closed during night hours, from 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and any activity during night hours is illegal. But Levinson said volunteers frequently see fishermen coming to the park after sunset.
“There is tension mounting there because the fishermen become aggressive,” she said.
More than 6,000 In Defense of Animals supporters contacted park officials and city officials in recent months, urging them to ban fishing and start an animals protection program at the park, with no response.
“This doesn’t need to happen,” Levinson said. “This is only happening because there’s not a good program for fishermen to pick up their trash. There needs to be some regulation there.”
Representatives with Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, who represents the Van Nuys area, Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and Lake Balboa Park didn’t return a request for comment.
Levinson added it would be helpful to establish a separate fishing zone or no-fishing area at the park to limit nighttime fishing.
Mortaza Zaghian, of Granada Hills, said he didn’t understand why fishermen along the shores didn’t clean up after themselves and pointed out the trash cans just feet away from where he picked through leaves and trash to collect fishing line. In his pocket, he carried scissors too to cut up the lines.
Saving birds is Zaghian’s mission. It began a few years ago when he started feeding birds and ducks. But then spotted birds being tangled in fishing lines and decided to rescue them.
On a recent afternoon, he wheeled around a cart full of bird feed, collected fishing line and nets. He also picked up discarded fishing gear while checking on birds that he has resorted to wearing a back brace.
As soon as birds spotted him, they followed him patiently waiting for him to throw food.
After Zaghian threw the feed, he quickly scanned the area looking for injured birds. He pointed out the ones he’s healed, some with one leg.
“I tell the birds don’t come here,” he said, “this is the dirtiest nastiest park.”
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