Crows continue to riot amid the government’s failure to respond

A crow holds a golf ball in its beak in Seocho District, Seoul, on January 16. [NEWS1]

Crows are reported to do damage to the nation electricity infrastructure, causing outages.

At 7 am on June 13, a sudden explosion shattered the calm in Yeonjae District, Busan. The power distribution board exploded with a bang, sending smoke into the air. The incident plunged nearly 500 homes and a nearby middle school into darkness for two hours.

Last September, 483 households in Guro District, west of Seoul, endured a similar four-hour power outage.

The culprits that caused this disturbance are crows, which were found electrocuted near damaged telephone poles.

In Ulsan, 900 households including restaurants experienced a power outage on February 6. after a crow came into contact with a high-tension wire. [YONHAP]

There have been 103 power outages nationwide that may have been caused by crows in the three years from 2021, according to the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco).

Of the 35 cases reported last year, Gyeonggi had the highest number of blackouts with six incidents, followed by South Gyeongsang and Gwangwon, each with five cases, said Kepco.

These blackouts are not the only problems caused by crows. Birds also attack people.

On June 17, near the Busan District Court, a person trying to help an injured crow was suddenly attacked by another crow.

“I was putting an injured crow in a flower pot when another crow hit my head,” said the victim. “I was confused when he came back and stabbed me repeatedly.”

The main troublemakers are the great crows, which are 57 cm long. They eat fruit, insects and rotten meat, but the urban ones mainly feed on food waste.

Great-feathered ravens flock to the city – where predators such as jackdaws or owls are absent – and pose a threat to energy centers as they forage and forage around them.

A picture of a crow, which was removed as a pest last December. [YONHAP]

Following their destructive behavior, great-feathered crows, along with other birds such as jackdaws and rooks, were designated as pests last December. This designation allowed them to be caught with the consent of the local government under the Wildlife Protection and Management Act.

However, despite this selection, very few people try to catch them due to lack of motivation.

Wild boar hunters, also designated as vermin, receive an average reward – 200,000 won ($144) from the central government and 100,000 won from local governments.

Licensed hunters, after obtaining permission from local governments, are employed to capture wild pigs in urban areas.

In contrast, there is no such incentive to catch large-billed crows, and obtaining permission is almost impossible.

“We give permission to capture with traps or guns, but catching crows with traps is difficult because of their intelligence. Using guns in the city cannot be allowed because of the danger to people and buildings,” a Busan official said.

Therefore, not a single crow was caught in Busan, a situation that can be seen in other cities.

Magpies attack crows in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, June 12, 2023. [NEWS1]

Park Hee-chan, head of Kyoungpook National University’s Institute of Ecology and Environmental Science, emphasized the need for preventive measures to reduce the damage caused by the increasing number of crows.

“Farmers and Kepco used to pay people to catch crows when they caused major crop damage or power outages. However, they no longer deal with the issue in this way,” Park said. “Crows often sit on power distribution panels and use metal [in their nests], which can cause serious accidents. Preventive measures are needed.”

Due to the sudden increase in the number of crows in the cities, the Park showed a decrease in magpies.

“Originally, wolves were rivals to crows,” Park said. “However, after maggots were declared a pest in the 1990s, their numbers declined rapidly, leading to an increase in crows.”

WITH KIM MIN-JU, WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]