HYDERABAD: From capturing the birds and releasing them elsewhere to feeding them contraceptive pills — cities around the world have taken up several measures to check the population of pigeons in urban spaces. But although pigeons seem to be invading every nook corner of Hyderabad’s buildings, new and old, and marking their presence with droppings, there exists no official policy on tackling the issue.
On Friday, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was forced to capture around 500 pigeons from the Moazzam Jahi market and relocate them to the forests near Srisailam, after the birds started to hamper the beautification works at the heritage site.
The overpopulation of pigeons in the city is a matter of concern for reasons ranging from health and biodiversity to being purely aesthetic. However, they all call for well-planned and effective measures.
Stop feeding the birds
“A major reason behind the bulging pigeon population in the city is the abundant availability of feed,” points out Dr V Vasudeva Rao, ornithologist at the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU).
This should not come as a surprise considering various parts of the city, including Charminar, Begum Bazar and Hasmat Gunj and also Himayatnagar, Indira Park, Tank Bund, KBR National Park and Ameerpet, large amounts of grains can be seen strewn on the streets to feed the pigeons.
Many cities around the world have prohibited and even penalised such feeding of a feral population of birds. Even the GHMC was forced to put up a banner at the Moazzam Jahi market prohibiting the public from doing so.
According to Dr Vasudeva Rao, awareness among the public is crucial. “Before penalising the public, they need to first be told about the impact of rising pigeon population in the city. They need to be told that apart from habitat destruction, the rising pigeon population is a reason behind the declining population of the sparrow, mynah or parakeet. The latter were once commonly seen in the city whenever someone threw out grains for the birds to feed.”
BT Srinivasan of the United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations (UFERWAS) said, “The issue of rising pigeon population has been raised by various resident welfare associations and put forward in multiple meetings with the GHMC. Practice of throwing feed to pigeons needs to be stopped in the city and must be penalised. But before that, the GHMC should take up an education drive on the need for such measures.”
Public health concerns
The issue is of public health as well. Dr Mahboob Khan, superintendent of Government Chest Hospital, explains, “Pigeon excreta is something that affects people who inhale the dried pigeon excreta in the form of dust. The particles of the excreta, when inhaled, can cause severe infections. They include hypersensitive pneumonitis and fungal infections such as histoplasmosis, cryptococcus, candidiasis.”
What makes these infections even more dangerous is that tracing their origin is very difficult. “Samples are sent to lab for cultures and depending upon the result, an anti-fungal or antibiotic is recommended. The symptoms of such ailments include breathlessness, severe coughing, and even fever. Patients of COPD, asthma, children, elderly and diabetics are the most vulnerable. We often go around warning patients at the chest hospital to not feed pigeons. However, people do not listen as then do not take the threat seriously,” Dr Khan added.
Dr Mekala Laksman, professor and head of veterinary pathology at PVNR Telangana Veterinary University, told TNIE, “Pigeons and some other species of birds can prove to be carriers of the highly contagious zoonotic disease — psittacosis.”
Beware of feathers, droppings
Dr Mekala Lakshman, head of veterinary pathology at PVNR Telangana Veterinary University, told TNIE, “Pigeons, their droppings and feathers can contain organisms that cause psittacosis or temporary ailments. It has become a fashion now to buy grains and throw it to birds. This needs to be stopped”
A host to many diseases
According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USA, pigeons are known to transmit and carry encephalitis, Newcastle disease, crypto-coccosis, toxo-plasmosis, salmonella food poisoning and histo-plasmosis and they are also hosts to several species of ectoparasites
Reasons behind a rising population
Pigeons are granivorous birds, and here in the city, they largely rely on the public for their food. They normally feed in flocks and have become proficient in identifying such spots in open places, on pavements, and at places of worship. People living in large residential apartments feed them and also leave some water outside for the birds. Availability of excess food is a major reason for their rising population
Over the years, the population of prey birds like pariah kite or shikra have also gone down in the city due to anthropogenic reasons. This has indirectly been helping the pigeon population thrive in the city
‘FORESTS ALSO BADLY AFFECTED BY PIGEONS’
Dr BV Subba Rao, a city-based environmentalist, says, “Just capturing some birds and taking them away to be released in a forest cannot be a solution. The forest ecosystem where the birds are released is also expected to take a negative toll. Rising population of pigeons is purely an urban issue and the urban local bodies like the GHMC or the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority should come up with a proper policy”
‘They can always find way back home’
“The GHMC has taken a tragic misstep by relocating birds to Srisailam forest. Pigeons are not jungle birds. The jungle is not their natural habitat,” said M Shafaat Ullah, Secretary of Deccan Birders. “Most of the pigeons are home dwellers and have exceptional navigational abilities. Pigeons can fly back their way home no matter where you leave them. By relocating them GHMC is only shifting our problems on others,” he added
Pigeons are adapted to the urban setting
The pigeon we commonly see is a Rock Dove. As the name suggests, it is a bird that lives in rocky areas or cliffs. “Pigeons have adapted to the large residential buildings - partly because it reflects their natural habitat,” said M Shafaat Ullah, Secretary of Deccan Birders. Pigeon population is directly proportional to the availability of food. “If we restrict the availability of the food, their population will gradually decrease,” he said