A ZOO has come up with a novel solution to stop ever-more-brazen seagulls stealing their visitors’ food.
Blackpool Zoo is advertising for humans to dress up as giant birds and scare away the unwanted guests, who have been snatching grub from animal lovers and animal enclosures too.
The lucky applicant will be able to demonstrate a number of qualities including being ‘outgoing – as you need to be comfortable wearing a bird costume!’.
Those deemed worthy of becoming Seagull Deterrents will be offered ‘variable seasonal hours’ during which they will have to ‘keep the seagulls away from our main visitor dining areas’. According to various commenters the pay isn’t great, but they do offer free zoo tickets and various discounts.
Our fat feathered friends have become a huge problem in coastal towns with their population now estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. They feast mostly on a diet of pilfered fast-food and scavenged junk, a meal that is very different from their normal diet of fresh seafood.
Known to dive-bomb chip-eaters, tear through bin bags and crap everywhere, many councils are coming up with their own interesting solutions to keep the gannets at bay, such as netting off potential nesting areas and discouraging the public from feeding them.
None have quite gone to the incredible lengths of Blackpool Zoo though with their bipedal bird solution.
The advert highlights the problem. ‘The seagulls are proving to be a bit of a nuisance when it comes to trying to steal food from our visitors and our animal enclosures!’
Blackpool, like other seaside tourist hotspots, is well know for its cheeky seagulls. But over the past ten years their behaviour has become invasive and led to drastic action being taken.
According to Total Bird Control the actual number of ‘herring gulls are actually in decline, so much so that the species is red listed in terms of being endangered’.
But while the coastal population of the bird is in decline, there has also been an explosion of ‘urban gulls’.
The soaring numbers are frequently attributed to the abundance of waste food, which provides ample opportunities for these scavengers, as well as the availability of warm and sheltered areas for them to roost in.
Seagulls, like other pest birds, pose a potential threat of disease transmission, with concerns arising that they may even transmit antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’.
Additionally, as with other bird species, the presence of roosting seagulls can create a significant issue with mess. Their droppings can make surfaces slippery and extremely dirty.
So while Blackpool Zoo’s approach is certainly novel, a more robust approach is needed with the UK Government advising that ‘local authorities and landowners take preventative measures such as installing netting or wire over vulnerable roosting areas, keeping food storage and waste facility areas secure and discouraging deliberate feeding of birds by the public.’
It’s a difficult situation all round, but it is very clear that gulls just want to have fun. And who can blame them?
