I was under the impression it was a ride issue, and Fabio didn’t want their reputation ruined, so he called it a bird. Regardless, it’s not nearly as clear cut as the image would have you believe. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fabio-hit-goose-rollercoaster/
Read this Snopes article. Fabio never claimed the goose hit him, he said the goose hit a video camera in front of him, there to record his ride for a promotional video he signed up to do. A piece of the destroyed camera hit him on the nose causing a small cut that required one stitch. He refused to take part in suing the rider operator.
If they hadn’t built the ride in the flight path of the geese, this would likely not have happened. It appears the geese have figured things out since then, though.
Edit because TrackinDaKraken already posted much the same thing. I will add though that the link says nothing about wanting to protect their reputation. In fact, in one interview quoted he clearly wants the ride shut down or fixed.
In a 1999 local news interview at the end of the clip, Fabio was visibly upset about the incident, “It wasn’t a freak accident, and it’s going to happen again, and I cannot live in my conscience to know that the ride is still running. And even a person, even a child, can be killed.”
I was under the impression it was a ride issue, and Fabio didn’t want their reputation ruined, so he called it a bird. Regardless, it’s not nearly as clear cut as the image would have you believe. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fabio-hit-goose-rollercoaster/
Read this Snopes article. Fabio never claimed the goose hit him, he said the goose hit a video camera in front of him, there to record his ride for a promotional video he signed up to do. A piece of the destroyed camera hit him on the nose causing a small cut that required one stitch. He refused to take part in suing the rider operator.
If they hadn’t built the ride in the flight path of the geese, this would likely not have happened. It appears the geese have figured things out since then, though.
There are now deterrent nets and misters, I suspect the geese wouldn’t figure it out without them
Edit because TrackinDaKraken already posted much the same thing. I will add though that the link says nothing about wanting to protect their reputation. In fact, in one interview quoted he clearly wants the ride shut down or fixed.