ケニア：外来カラス処理に毒入り餌を

　ケニアではカラスの害に悩まされているそうな。これがまた攻撃的な種で、ゴミあさりをするだけではすまず、ホテルのオープンテラスを襲撃するやら家禽を貪り食うやら、まあ大変らしい。

BBC Kenya rolls out poison in bid to cull a million crows 7 hours ago

Wycliffe Muia

　観光で儲けようという国でもあり、観光客を襲撃する恐るべきカラスは、そりゃあイヤだろう。

「"Invasive alien birds" sounds like the strapline to a scary Hollywood blockbuster but for the people of coastal Kenya it is not a matter of fiction.

The authorities there are so worried about the nuisance created by Indian house crows that they have begun the process of culling a million of them.

They have not targeted humans, as in the Alfred Hitchock horror film The Birds, but these ones have for decades caused widespread disruption, by preying on wildlife, raiding tourist areas and attacking poultry farms.

Poison is now being used in the towns of Watamu and Malindi to kill the first tranche of the ruthless sub-species.」

　実のところ英国植民地時代、ザンジバルでゴミ処理に使うため移入された種だそうな。だからゴミあさりはその本来の目的に適っているんだろうけど―人間の人口が増え、ゴミも増えてカラスも増えて、ついでに襲撃も増えて―ということのよう。

「The birds, known on the coast as "kunguru" or "kurabu", originated from India and other parts of Asia, often spreading elsewhere by travelling on trading ships.

But they are believed to have been intentionally introduced in East Africa around 1890s in a bid to tackle a mounting waste problem on the Zanzibar archipelago, then a British protectorate. From there, they spread to the mainland and up the coast to Kenya.」

　もちろん農作物も害を受ける。

「They also damage crops, livestock and chickens.
"They pounce on chicks and eat them like madmen. These are not normal birds, they act wildly," said Eunice Katana, a resident of Takaye village in Kilifi county.」

　遅効性の毒でゆっくり死に至らしめるというのはなかなかの案だが、しかし取って付けた案であるのもその通りだろう。…しかしなあ、家禽まで襲撃するようになっては、もはやごみ処理の適正化だけでは対応できないだろうしなあ…。