SINGAPORE – The sound of crows cawing could be heard before a murder of about 20 of them were seen flying over a heavy vehicle carpark in Jurong on the afternoon of April 2.
The birds had likely been attracted to the area by a machine used by wildlife contractors to mimic crows in distress.
As they circled overhead, one man stood in a small, squarish box demarcated by four safety cones in a larger area cordoned off by red-and-white tape.
After checking that the area around him was clear, the shooter aimed his gun towards the sky.
Several gunshots later, the cawing of crows ceased and some feathered creatures dropped with a thud into the cordoned-off zone.
The rest of the birds quickly dispersed.
This glimpse into a 25-minute crow shooting operation was organised for the media by the National Parks Board (NParks).
The gun used in the operations is longer than the length of a man’s arm, and each pellet is about the size of a grain of rice.
After the shooting operation, checks were done by spotters in the area to see if the crows on the ground were still moving. Any crow still moving was retrieved and “put down humanely” on the spot, said Mr Soh Ze Bin, NParks’ director for wildlife management and outreach.
The carcasses were disposed of in a biohazard bag and transported to an approved waste management plant to be incinerated.
The authorities retrieving crow carcasses at Bulim Heavy Vehicle Park on April 2.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Such operations began in Yishun in late March, and will be expanded to eight other districts over the next few weeks. The other areas are: Bishan, Jurong, Kranji, Punggol, Sembawang, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Woodlands.
These areas were identified based on a range of factors, such as the presence of a large number of crows, site suitability for conducting crow shooting safely, and crow aversion to traps in the area, said NParks in an update on April 2.
The operation on April 2 saw 16 crows shot. This brings the total number of crows shot since the start of the operations in Yishun on March 24 to 40.
“NParks will continue to study more sites and expand the roll-out of crow shooting operations over time,” said the board in its statement.
