Other than the remote control trap, MBPP personnel also use nets to catch pigeons. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: With cast nets, remote-controlled cage traps and a RM250 fine on people feeding pigeons, the city council is “battling” against the island’s pigeon infestation.
And it looks like the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is making progress because there are signs that the feral pigeon population here is thinning.
The Star followed a team from MBPP to Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling on their pigeon trapping rounds recently and watched them catch over 20 pigeons outside the Goddess of Mercy Temple and Kapitan Keling Mosque.
These places of worship used to have flocks of over 100 pigeons waiting for people to feed them.
The city council said it had increased pigeon-trapping efforts to four times a week.
It even uses its 500-plus public CCTV cameras to identify hotspots where people like to feed the birds.
Nine people were caught feeding pigeons between February and July and were slapped with RM250 fines under local government by-laws against littering.
Don’t be part of the problem: A file photo of an MBPP sign warning against feeding pigeons at Penang Road in George Town, Penang. The MBPP is reportedly discussing a new by-law that would make pigeon-feeding a specific offence, with a potential fine of RM500.
The MBPP is reportedly discussing a new by-law that would make pigeon-feeding a specific offence, with a potential fine of RM500.
“There are now many signs warning the public not to feed the birds here. We will definitely issue fines if we spot them doing it,” MBPP said in a statement, adding that efforts to control the pigeon population began in 2012.
The issuing of fines for feeding pigeons began in Penang this year, and MBPP said that in the past, enforcers had only advised the public not to do it.
As a long-term measure, the council also throws bird feed laced with nicarbazin, a birth control drug that works only on birds to control feral bird populations.
Pigeons spread pathogens in public areas through their faeces, which is also corrosive enough to pit metal in buildings where they roost.
And when they fly off in flocks, the nearly invisible cloud of feather dust they leave behind can cause breathing ailments in those with respiratory issues and allergies.
The situation worsens when people feed them, contributing directly to their overpopulation.
MBPP added that it caught 6,908 pigeons as of September this year.
All pigeons captured would be sent to the Veterinary Services Department where they will be treated humanely according to standard operating procedure.
In 2018, it caught 3,419 pigeons, followed by 3,811 in 2019, 6,848 (2020), 5,572 (2021), 5,020 in 2022, and 6,286 last year.
City councillor Quah Boon Lim, who is MBPP environment health sub-committee alternate chairman, said the local council’s efforts alone would not be enough if the public still feeds the pigeons.
“The public is reminded that feeding pigeons is equal to littering, and this bird is a public health hazard when their population is out of control,” he said.
