Complaints on Pest Bird Nuisance and Measures to Reduce Such Nuisances in Last Five Years

63 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the number of complaints on pest bird nuisance received in the last five years; (b) what measures have NParks and other Government agencies adopted to reduce pest bird nuisance in the last five years and how effective are these measures; and (c) whether the Ministry is adopting more measures to effectively manage pest bird nuisance.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: Over the last five years, we have received an annual average of about 22,000 cases of feedback on pest birds. The National Parks Board (NParks) has been working with the National Environment Agency, the Singapore Food Agency and Town Councils to step up its multi-pronged efforts to manage pest bird-related disamenities and safeguard public safety. For instance, under the pigeon management plan, agencies are working together to reduce human-generated food sources, carry out direct population control with enhanced trapping and removal methods, enforce against illegal bird feeding and carry out education and outreach efforts.

To further mitigate crow-related disamenities, NParks has also stepped up its crow and crow nest removal efforts and is working closely with the Singapore Police Force to resume the shooting of crows.