The resumption of a crow-shooting campaign in Singapore has revived intense debate over lethal wildlife management in the highly urbanized city-state. Government officials revived the culling program in response to public complaints about crow attacks on pedestrians and cyclists, reports contributor Robin Hicks for Mongabay. In a public statement in March announcing the resumption of crow shooting, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said that alternative measures such as trapping the birds, tree pruning, and removing nearly 9,000 nests in 2025 had proved insufficient. How Choon Beng, director of wildlife management at the National Parks Board, told Hicks that shooting, combined with other measures, would lead to a “gradual and sustained reduction” in crow numbers. But some experts say culling is merely a reactive measure that fails to address the underlying drivers of the bird boom. Albert Liu, assistant director for conservation at the nonprofit Nature Society Singapore, told Hicks that culling primarily serves “to show the public that something is being done” and “treats the symptoms, not the cause.” Ecologists point out that the hyperabundance of “nuisance” birds, such as house crows (Corvus splendens), Javan mynas (Acridotheres javanicus) and common pigeons (Columba livia), is driven entirely by human-made urban conditions. A global review of more than 400 studies found that most crow species grow more abundant as cities expand because urban areas provide plenty of food, nesting spots, and few predators. A Singapore-specific study from 2003 supports these findings. For example, crows often nest in the yellow flame trees (Peltophorum pterocarpum)…This article was originally published on Mongabay
