The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has announced plans to eliminate one million house crows by December 31, 2024.
In a statement on Friday, June 7, 2024, KWS announced the operation will be based in the coastal region adding that house crows are invasive alien birds that are considered a nuisance to the public.
According to KWS, the birds also pose a major inconvenience to the hotel industry along the coast, disrupting tourists as they enjoy their meals.
“Today, the Kenya Wildlife Service led a consortium of stakeholders in developing an action plan to eliminate one million house crows from Kenya’s coast by December 31, 2024,” the KWS statement read in part.
Speaking during the meeting, Prof. Charles Musyoki, Director of Wildlife and Community Service representing the KWS Director General, outlined that the house crow eradication program is of high public interest.
Musyoki affirmed the government’s commitment to addressing the problem in the coastal region.
During the meeting, KWS engaged with various stakeholders including representatives from the hotel industry, veterinarians specializing in house crow control, A Rocha, Vipingo Ridge, and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI).
KWS is expected to collaborate with the stakeholders to determine how the elimination programme will be carried out in the next six months.
However, KWS did not immediately reveal the method which will be used to eliminate the house crows.
House crows migration story
The Indian house crow, described by scientists as an invasive pest, arrived in Kenya in 1947. Their numbers started exploding due to the increasing human population and mounds of garbage which provide the invasive birds with food.
Their presence in the coastal region has caused concern with conservationists arguing that they are driving away other birds.
Residents have also raised an alarm pointing out that the house crows are also attacking chicken.
Several organisations have since tried to eliminate the invasive bird but to no avail. Between 1999 and 2005, A Rocha Kenya used an avian poison called Starlicide to eliminate crows in Malindi, another town on the Kenyan coast. Their efforts reduced the birds significantly.
But now the government has scaled up efforts to eliminate the birds.
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