Kenya begins poisoning one million Indian House Crows
The government in Kenya has begun a program of culling one million Indian House Crows. The non-native species was first recorded in Mombasa in 1947 and since then their numbers have increased dramatically, alongside human population growth and the associated rubbish created.
Conservationists in Kenya say that the crows have significantly reduced the number of small indigenous birds in the region, such as weavers and waxbills, by ripping their nests apart while targeting eggs and even chicks.
The poisoning program comes after months of consultations with environmental experts, conservationists, community leaders and representatives from the hotel industry, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said.
The culling process involves months of pre-baiting - where the birds are encouraged, through leaving meat out, to gather at various places near their roost sites.
"We then poison them after pulling together the highest number in the baiting sites," Eric Kinoti, an official from the A Rocha Kenya, said.
An avian poison called Starlicide is so far the only known substance that has proved effective in reducing crow numbers. It is claimed that this poison does not affect other birds or animals.
Close to 2,000 crows were killed in 2022 during efficacy tests carried out on the poison by Little Kenya Gardens, the company licensed to import the poison, Cecilia Ruto, owner of the firm, said.
"The slow-acting poison is entirely metabolised by the crow before it dies – which means, there is little risk of secondary poisoning to any other species that feeds on the dead crow," Ms Ruto added.
There are currently 2kg (4.4lb) of the poison in the country which is estimated to be able to kill about 20,000 crows in the ongoing eradication. But there are plans to import more from New Zealand.
Many environmentalists in the country however are not convinced about the culling programme as they say that mass poisoning is a short-term solution that does not address the root cause of the problem.
They are calling on the government to look at sustainable, humane approaches to manage the crow population.
This is the second attempt to kill the non-native Indian House Crow in Kenya. A previous attempt was made more than 20 years ago but the government later banned the importation of Starlicide in an effort to regulate what was coming into the country.
13 August 2024
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