Earlier this year officials in Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, declared a war on the local seagulls’ aggressive actions. The city appears to have lost its battle.
The gulls’ aggressive actions, which have become unbearable in recent years, forced the authorities to take action. 16 hunters were given permission to hunt them with powerful air guns from 15 April before the mating season begins.
Residents had complained at “horrific noise 20-21 hours a day, saying they could not even go out onto their balconies.
However, the birds are too smart for the hunters. They disappear when the hunters shoot, and stay away for a long time.
“A very low number of seagulls have been shot,” says city spokeswoman Annie Paabøl to Aarhus Stiftstidende. Chairwoman of Aarhus’s hunting association, Susanne Madsen, confirmed the project had been a flop. “They are smart,” she says, “and at the same time security issues have to be considered when we show up with an air rifle. That means there are a lot of places where we can’t shoot.”
Danish Battle with Seagulls, source: The Local