Feeding gulls makes attacks more likely, says RSPB

MEMBERS of the public should not feed gulls as it risks fuelling attacks, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has warned, as it called for new bylaws to tackle the problem.

The charity has urged councils to target well-meaning bird feeders by issuing fines to those who are spotted offending, and putting up warning signs about the dangers posed by sharing scraps with the scavenging gulls.

Grahame Madge of RSPB said that so far gulls had been dealt with in a very “ad hoc” way and he called on councils to collaborate more.

“We need creative thinking – like bringing in bylaws to stop people from feeding gulls in urban areas or putting up signs that encourage people not to feed them,” he said.

“There have to be long-term answers. We want people to celebrate gulls as part of the seaside experience but at the moment they are hated.”

“To manage conflict in towns we must look at gull behaviour, and not their population size,” a spokesman for the RSPB added. “If we feed gulls they will grow more confident, they will learn that we are a source of food.

“They will not then distinguish between food offered and people simply walking around carrying food, café tables outdoors and the like.”

This month David Cameron said he wanted to start a “big conversation” about an increase in attacks by the aggressive birds on people and pets.

Last week gulls reportedly killed a dog in Newquay, Cornwall, while a tortoise was pecked to death in nearby Liskeard.

MPs have called for a change in the law which would allow the protected status of the birds to be axed in order to able to control their population in urban areas.