The Environment and Transport Committee invites the falconer Wolfgang Schreyer to obtain an assessment of the crow plague in Dachau. The Dachau city councilors then agreed that they did not want to spend any more money on measures against the crow plague for the time being.
In order to decide on further measures against the plague of crows in the city of Dachau, the environment and transport committee invited a falconer to assess the situation. Again and again, the city administration receives complaints about noise and dirt, which are mainly caused by rooks.
For years, attempts have been made to reduce the number of crows through deterrent measures, such as the pruning of breeding trees and the removal of crows’ nests, the city administration said. However, these measures have so far had little success. Experience would show that the nests are rebuilt in a very short time after removal. The main reason for the massive spread of crows in urban areas is that they find food everywhere in cities, explained falconer Wolfgang Schreyer from Unterschleißheim. “There’s just too much food thrown out on the streets.” In addition, there are no natural enemies for the rook in Dachau and there are enough trees.
The city administration therefore intends to apply for permission for the use of birds of prey by falconers in the coming year, in addition to removing the nests, in order to counteract the spread of the crows. However, Schreyer gave little hope here. “A pair of peregrine falcons does not bother the crows at all and the buzzard also gets a beating from the crows.” The falconer thus confirmed the assumption of Mayor Florian Hartmann (SPD) that successful action against the crow plague means that there is no way around widespread hunting. “As long as no hunting is approved here, we have no chance,” says Schreyer.
Measures against crow plague deferred
Obtaining permission to hunt rooks, which are particularly protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act, is difficult, as Hartmann said. There is “unfortunately always a negative answer from the environmental authorities,” said the mayor. Nevertheless, one does not want to let the population down and continues to try to obtain the appropriate permits from the government of Upper Bavaria.
However, the Dachau city councilors agreed that they did not want to spend any more money on measures against the crow plague for the time being. The removal of the crows’ nests previously proposed by the administration, for which 15,000 euros were planned, and the falconry mission for 30,000 euros were canceled from the plan.