Urban gulls have been a growing problem in areas where they breed in larger numbers
This is the case in the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP), where some people are trying to keep them away using eagles trained for this purpose - which aim to scare them away, not kill them. But for the management bodies of AMP, it is necessary to go further, because public health is also at stake.
Among the negative impacts that AMP points out are the "risks to public health, by the potential transmission of pathogens; noise and disturbance of well-being and enjoyment of leisure throughout the day; aggression, theft of food; damage to infrastructure and consequent economic impacts; risk to the safety of aircraft; dirt and spreading of garbage.
According to AMP, this problem affects, in different extents and intensity, the five municipalities studied (Gaia, Matosinhos, Porto, Póvoa de Varzim and Vila do Conde), with Porto presenting the highest number of identified nests (485), followed by Póvoa de Varzim (118). "In the survey conducted in the AMP in 2021, with a total of 2,115 responses, 96% of those responses considered it necessary to take action to control the gull populations," he says.
For this reason, an "Action Plan for the Control of the Seagull Population in Coastal Municipalities of the Metropolitan Area of Porto" was commissioned and finalized last May.
The document points out a set of measures "based on extensive experimental work (gull censuses, nest identification, GPS gull tracking, and video camera observation of behavior), literature review, and discussion with various experts relevant to the causes and consequences of the imbalance caused by urban gulls.
These measures were grouped into four pillars: obtaining a general license from ICNF to control urban gulls in the MPA; making the MPA less attractive to gulls; preventing or minimizing breeding in urban space in the MPA; and ensuring the continuity of the action plan and its periodic review.
And with the action plan now complete, what will happen? In addition to methods of deterrence and removal of gulls, the document mentions methods to control the reproduction of these birds, such as "the removal and destruction of eggs and/or young, puncture of eggs, injection of substances capable of killing the embryo or use of the egg-oiling method (use of paraffin or cooking oil on eggs to create a layer that prevents gas exchange between the embryo and the outside).
The extensive 224-page report also addresses the culling of adult birds, with different methodologies under analysis, under the pillar "Making WAP less attractive to gulls."
In this context, the action plan also states that, to act in extreme cases, "municipalities should obtain from ICNF an exceptional license to capture and slaughter urban gulls in situations of extreme aggressiveness".
These gulls are considered in the report as "psychopaths", with "aggressive and repeated behavior". And examples are given: "gulls that repeatedly peck at windows or equipment, or that recurrently prevent the use of gardens and balconies, or that show aggressive behavior in schools or other places frequented by children".
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