Paris' pigeon plague blamed on elderly

Pigeons cooing in a Parisian square may bring romantic pictures of the French capital to mind, but the birds - and their droppings - have become a hazard to city living.

However, it's the old ladies who feed them, not the individual pigeons who are largely to blame, concluded a recent seminar organised by the Scientific and Technical Institute of Wildlife in Towns in Paris.

'The priority is to avoid pigeons grouping up, but this is difficult when elderly people or others feed the pigeons, sometimes up to several kilos of rice and grain a day,' said Jean-Michel Michaux, president of the institute.

Pigeons crowd railway stations and other public spaces, while droppings cover the streets and damage the stone in city buildings and monuments. Pigeons also carry bacteria that can cause respiratory diseases in humans.

'The pigeon is usually a solitary creature, but it tends to gather where there is a food source. Feeding pigeons is forbidden, and this is the main problem especially when people always feed pigeons in the same place.'

Introduced into Paris in the 19th century in case of a food shortage, the pigeon population in the city has risen to 90,000.

'There are some parts in Paris where you cannot avoid getting rained on,' said Mr Michaux.

Pigeon feeders can be fined up to Euro150 (HK$1,422), but fines have not proved to be a successful deterrent so far.

'We realised in our seminar that fining people hasn't really worked, as animal protection groups often pay the fines. We must explain to people who feed pigeons that doing this is harmful to the city. But this is the hardest thing as they think they are doing something useful, when they are just doing something they enjoy,' explained Mr Michaux.