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SINGAPORE \u2013 A man accused of cheating and theft was out on bail when he allegedly damaged traps the National Parks Board (NParks) had deployed to manage the crow population.<\/p>\n
Mohd Yusrin Mohd Yusof\u2019s latest alleged offences resulted in trapped crows escaping.<\/p>\n
He appeared in court via video-link on March 6 and was charged with two counts of mischief. He now faces four charges in all, including one count each of cheating and theft.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, Yusrin, 50, was in Jurong Gateway Road at around 4.30pm on June 10, 2025 when he allegedly duped a woman into handing him a bottle of beer worth $8.50. <\/p>\n
He is also accused of stealing a bottle of beer that day. <\/p>\n
He was charged in court in 2025 and was released on bail of $5,000. <\/p>\n
On March 2, at around 11pm, he allegedly lifted and toppled a crow trap that was placed on a grass patch near Block 51, Havelock Road. A bird escaped because of that. <\/p>\n
Shortly before 12.40am the next day, he allegedly broke a lock securing a trap and three birds got away.<\/p>\n
In an earlier statement, the police said that with the help of CCTV footage, officers managed to identify Yusrin, who was arrested on March 4.<\/p>\n
His pre-trial conference will take place on March 11.<\/p>\n
This was the second case in recent weeks involving the disruption of an NParks operation to manage the crow population.<\/p>\n
On Jan 27, Tan See Chee, 77, <\/p>\n was fined $500 after he pleaded guilty to a mischief charge<\/p>\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n In October 2025, NParks engaged a company called Bird Management to conduct crow population management operations in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh.<\/p>\n The company set up a bird trap on a grass patch near Block 181.<\/p>\n Tan spotted the trap on Oct 20 that year and saw that cable ties had been used to secure it.<\/p>\n He cut the cable ties with a pair of scissors, opened the door to the trap and three birds escaped. <\/p>\n Court documents, however, did not state if the birds were crows.<\/p>\n In February, <\/p>\n Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat\u00a0noted that the number of reports about crows<\/p>\n <\/a>, as well as\u00a0incidents involving such birds <\/p>\n clashing with people<\/p>\n <\/a>, has gone up.<\/p>\n In 2025 alone, the Municipal Services Office received about 15,000 reports on crow-related issues, triple that of 2020, when there were nearly 5,000 reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n These included reports about noise, feeding and soiling.<\/p>\n Complaints about\u00a0crow\u00a0attacks had also surged to over 2,000 cases in 2025, compared with more than 460\u00a0in 2020.<\/p>\n Mr Chee had said: \u201cIf the crow population continues to grow, it will affect the safety of our residents as there will be more and more crow-related attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should not wait for this to happen before we take action. I have therefore asked NParks to bring back shooting as one of the measures to reduce the crow population in Singapore.\u201d<\/p>\n Crow shooting operations began as early as 1973. <\/p>\n In previous years, trained shooters were engaged to carry out crow culling operations around the island.<\/p>\n The Ministry of National Development\u00a0discontinued\u00a0the shooting of crows\u00a0<\/p>\n in 2020, <\/p>\n <\/a>due to incidents of pellets striking nearby homes. <\/p>\n Such cases were caused by human error, including non-compliance with safety protocols, and\u00a0enforcement action was taken against those involved, said Mr Chee.<\/p>\n The authorities have planned to resume shooting the birds after\u00a0<\/p>\n alternative control methods have been inadequate.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n