Gun Club Hunts City Crows in Singapore -- By Official Request

James Card in Changwon, South Korea
for National Geographic News

January 8, 2007

Ripping apart garbage bags, rummaging through leftovers, scavenging cafés and food stands, crows have earned the enmity of sanitation- obsessed Singaporeans. The tiny Asian island nation is infamous for its strict rules to promote cleanliness, including a ban on most chewing gum in public places.

And when it comes to crows, neatness isn't the only concern, as dive-bombings have been known to leave Singaporeans smarting.

But the birds aren't the ones drawing blood.

In 2006, at the invitation of the government, volunteers from the Singapore Gun Club culled approximately 1,025 crows—down slightly from 2005's tally of 1,650. The club's highest annual tally was 14,370 in 2001.

Venerable Tradition

The official culling program began in 1973. When traps and poison failed to work, shooting became the preferred method for controlling the crow population. At first military marksmen were used, but in 1982 the Ministry of the Environment invited Singapore Gun Club members to take their best shots at the birds.

Due to strict gun regulations, few Singaporeans own firearms, so club members were the only private citizens in the country that authorities could turn to for help.

For Singaporean shooting enthusiasts tired of blasting clay targets, the crow hunts are a challenging test of their skills and a service valued by the locals. As an added bonus, the government supplies ammunition free of charge.

Armed with double-barrel shotguns, gun club members hunt crows almost anywhere: parks, harbors, airports, and even apartment blocks.

Today Singapore's National Environment Agency employs a for-profit security company as well as the gun-club volunteers to kill the birds.

And from the government's point of view, it seems to be working.

"The crow population in Singapore is currently estimated to be at a manageable level of 10,000, as compared to a population of 120,000 in 2001," said an agency spokesperson, who requested anonymity to avoid taking credit for preparing the culling data, which was done by her department as a whole.

Public Pest Number One?

House crows were first introduced to Singapore to control rhino beetles on oil palm farms.

Unlike crows in more northerly countries, the crows of Singapore are able to breed year-round because of the warm climate—sparking a population boom.

Highly adaptable, the black birds thrive in the city, using man-made materials for constructing nests, feeding on leftovers, raiding orchards and gardens, and nipping food from al fresco dinner tables.

(Related: "Crows Have Human-Like Intelligence, Author Says" [June 6, 2006].)

In the evenings the birds flock in the thousands, creating an enormous ruckus atop the city's many high-rise apartment buildings. And the crows' frequent tanglings in electric wires have made them culprits in several power outages.

The crows may also be a danger to Singapore's native bird populations.

"They do take bird eggs and nestlings," said Navjot Sodhi, a professor at the National University of Singapore, who co-authored Winged Invaders: Pest Birds of the Asia Pacific.

As for human victims, there have been numerous reports over the years of dive-bombings—a particular danger during nesting season, says Y.C. Wee, a local bird-watcher.

"Crows are at their most aggressive nature when chicks are in the nest," Wee said. "There was a case when a chick fell out of the nest and passers-by were systematically attacked, especially those who tried to rescue it."

According to local lore, a certain type of Singaporean might be more vulnerable than others. "There is a suspicion that they may attack people with a bald patch on their head. There have been cases of crows drawing blood in their attacks," Wee said.

So what can the average, gunless Singaporean do to deter crows?

According to the local government, citizens should cinch their garbage bags, cover their trash cans, and prune their trees to deter nesting.

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