Feathers fly as Paris plans to scare away pigeons with hawks

THOUSANDS of Parisians have united to defend pigeons’ rights following plans to bring in birds of prey to tackle the “pests”.

France’s City of Lights is home to a plethora of pigeons, which sully its streets and roofs with droppings and whose population is difficult to regulate. So Rémi Féraud, mayor of the 10th arrondissement, planned to draft in two hawks and three falcons to scare birds from the area. He argued that the pigeons posed a “real health risk for local residents”, carrying diseases such as bird flu. Repairing social housing damaged by the birds’ corrosive droppings costs €150,000 (£133,000) per year, according to Le Parisien.

However, the plan appalled pigeon lovers at the Ambassade des pigeons (Pigeon Embassy) welfare group and Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, the bird protection charity, who launched a petition which yesterday had been signed by almost 20,000.

In a letter to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, they called for authorities to increase the number of “contraceptive” pigeon lofts. In these, the birds lay their eggs, which are then removed and replaced with fakes or “spiked”.