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Govt action on gulls
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The Government will this year be carrying out a special programme for the management and control of the Yellow-legged Gull population over and above its annual culling programme.
The Government has concerns about the prevailing numbers throughout the whole of Gibraltar and the fact that these birds are now nesting on high-rise buildings and rooftops of residential estates and the town area. "They represent a nuisance as well as a threat to the public health and safety. The special cull is also required to ensure the continued safety of the airport by minimising the risk of aircraft birdstrike," they say.
A team from the Central Science Laboratory in UK carried out a three-day scoping visit last
December, in consultation with the Ministry for the Environment and Tourism, to assess options for managing Yellow-legged Gulls in order to bring numbers back down to sustainable levels. Other relevant entities are being consulted.
The Central Science Laboratory (CSL) is an Executive Agency of the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and has extensive expertise in the management of wildlife-human conflict. It is an internationally renowned research center employing over 500 scientific staff. A significant proportion of CSL?s work is in the field of wildlife and land management and the laboratory undertakes commercial work for a variety of customers as well as policy research commissioned by the UK Government.
The Government says it has now entered into a contract with Central Science Laboratory for the implementation of a six-week programme that will target, as a first phase, the removal of all nesting gulls from the east side water catchments area. This programme will complement the work already being undertaken by GONHS under its Gull Culling contract to the Government.
"On completion of this initial phase the effectiveness of the work carried out will be reviewed and evaluated," says the Government.
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