Written answer by Ministry of National Development on enhanced crow trapping measures and whether there will be additional resources to address the growing population of crows and its menace in the housing heartlands

Feb 6, 2024

Question No: 5704

Question by: Mr Liang Eng Hwa

To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the enhanced crow trapping measures undertaken by NParks have shown positive results; and (b) whether there will be additional resources and efforts by the Ministry to address the growing population of crows and its menace in the housing heartlands.

Answer:

Over the past few years, NParks has been ramping up its island-wide crow trapping efforts. In addition to deploying more crow traps, NParks has been enhancing trapping efficacy by designing new traps, and targeting the deployment of the traps in sites with high crow densities and feeding activity. In 2023, the number of crows trapped across Singapore doubled compared to 2022.

2.             However, crow trapping alone is not sufficient to manage the crow population. NParks has also stepped up its other crow management efforts, such as to survey and remove crow nests in trees, and to enforce against illegal bird feeding. These efforts have collectively helped to address the presence of crows in affected areas.

3.             Keeping the crow population under control requires a collective community effort on a sustained basis. As bird feeding and human-generated food sources are key drivers of crow population growth, we urge the community to avoid feeding birds and to keep our environment clean.