Bird threat

[budak]

Not a photo post, but I came across this article in the NY Times which sounds ominous: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/w...gin&adxnnlx=1163079467-VEfe/tp6s+ZrV2g8mZVUug

relevant excerpt:

"Mr. Lim, 54, is on the front lines of a battle for his country’s territorial integrity, a member of the Singapore Gun Club who has been enlisted to help reduce an infestation that at one point climbed to 150,000.... In 1982 the government asked the club to take on the crows, and Mr. Lim has been hunting them down almost from the start.

Now he is standing by for a new challenge, the possibility of bird flu and the need to secure Singapore against migrating birds, perhaps by shooting them out of the sky.

“I don’t know what our assignment will be,” he said. “The club has a contingency plan, all 50 shooters. The shooters will move if necessary, but I don’t know what we will do.”

I thought the WHO/FAO and other scientific bodies had already established that eliminating migratory birds isn't the solution? Are the authorities perhaps using option of shooting the birds as a way to show that 'something is being done?' The article makes it sound like it's only a plan currently with no concrete action, but I think in such issues, it's where the opinions of folks who appreciate and value nature such as nature photographers come in, although I hope it won't have to come to that...

 

[NightZ88]

Not a photo post, but I came across this article in the NY Times which sounds ominous: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/w...gin&adxnnlx=1163079467-VEfe/tp6s+ZrV2g8mZVUug

Now he is standing by for a new challenge, the possibility of bird flu and the need to secure Singapore against migrating birds, perhaps by shooting them out of the sky.

oh my! :bigeyes: tis spells doom for birds indeed.. fleeing frm a death frm starvation in e transition of seasonal changes only to face a death frm being 'suspects' for bird flu. no wonder we're facin such thins as endangered animals, birds, etc..

 

[Ally]

May be OT, but I've read that the House Crow is an introduced alien specie that has been crowding out the native Large-Billed Crow..

If I'm not mistaken, the House Crow usually gather in gregarious flocks, whereas the Large-Billed Crow tends to be solitary or in pairs..

So.. "A murder of crows?"..

Just my say..

 

[budak]

Yes, housecrows are indeed an introduced species and I posted the article not because of the current shooting program. What's worrying rather is what he said about there being some kind of plan for shooting migratory birds (supposedly as a measure against bird flu). These would likely mean a good number of waterbirds (waders, kingfishers, bitterns), raptors, shrikes and other species that make Singapore their wintering home. In practice, however, I highly doubt shooters would be able to distinguish (esp. in the air) between a migrant and resident, with the likely result being them shooting every damn thing out of the sky.