Pigeons and their droppings pose an increasing problem in Elche (Alicante)

ELCHE’S health department is introducing measures to reduce the number of pigeons in the city.

In mid-2021 municipal employees carried out a study to find medium and long-term solutions to the problem of the pigeons and their droppings.  Some of the measures have already been put into practice and others are imminent, announced Health councillor Mariola Galiana, who nevertheless insisted that the pigeons could not be described as a plague.

After last year’s study identified the places where the public tend to feed pigeons, Policia Local officers will try to persuade people not to provide them with food.  Posters will be put up in the city’s squares and gardens, reminding the public that feeding pigeons – or any other animal – is not permitted in public places.

“We are also installing dovecotes and food both in the city centre and on the outskirts to encourage the pigeons to congregate in specific zones,” Galiana said.

Once the pigeons are familiar with the dovecotes, the food that is put out for them will be laced with contraceptives, the councillor revealed.  

“These birds are very adaptable and in any case our aim is not to eradicate them, but to find a practical way of co-existing with them,” she said.

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