\n<\/p>\n
Curious onlookers flocked to Aljunied MRT station after hearing what they thought were gunshots, only to find an ongoing crow culling operation taking place nearby.<\/p>\n
Content creator, Glen Lim, posted an Instagram video on Thursday (Oct 15) showing several people rushing to the windows inside the MRT station facing an open grass patch and looking out.<\/p>\n
“In Singapore, a crowd like that usually means a celebrity, a fight or an accident?” wrote Lim\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the video, Lim explained how he decided to take a look to find out what caused the commotion, only to realise it was a crow shooting operation.<\/p>\n
Two officers can be seen standing on the grass patch, one wielding what looks like a shotgun facing upwards while another stands watch behind. Both officers are standing behind a green barricade and numerous black crows can be seen laying in the grass surrounding them.<\/p>\n
Another pair of officers with a similar set up can also be seen on the left side of the open area.<\/p>\n
The video also shows several people standing underneath a sheltered walkway outside the station witnessing the operation as auxiliary police officers were on-site and ushering people to stand behind the cordoned off area for safety.<\/p>\n
“Cordoned off, supervised and super organised,” wrote Lim, commending how well-planned the entire operation was.<\/p>\n
Some people can also be seen recording a video of the sight on their mobile phones.<\/p>\n
Lim described that the sight felt “felt like a movie scene”, especially with the haze in the background.<\/p>\n
“Blessed to live somewhere this ‘unhappening’,” Lim wrote, emphasising that Singapore felt so safe that the sight of a crow shooting felt exciting enough to draw crowds.<\/p>\n
\nCrow shooting resumed in March<\/h2>\n
Crow shooting operations resumed in March<\/a> this year on the back of a surge in complaints on crows and incidents of crow aggression.<\/p>\n
The crow population in Singapore rose to 160,000<\/a> in 2024, up from about 7,295 in 2016.<\/p>\n
Public complaints<\/a> against crows have also risen sharply \u2014 from about 5,000 cases in 2020 to about 15,000 cases last year.<\/p>\n
National Parks Board (NParks) had previously said that it intensified its multi-pronged crow management efforts after shooting operations ceased in 2020. This includes crow trapping and removal, as well as nest removal.<\/strong><\/p>\n
The crow shooting operations, spearheaded by NParks, started in nine neighbourhoods \u2014 Bishan, Jurong, Kranji, Punggol, Sembawang, Tampines, Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Yishun \u2014 before it was progressively scaled up to more areas.<\/p>\n
NParks has also worked with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Singapore Police Force to develop a customised operational framework which includes safety controls such as ensuring that the shooting trajectory of the shotgun pellets is always directed upwards.<\/p>\n