Singapore made a crow-friendly city. Now it wants to shoot them

Singapore has resumed shooting crows after public complaints about attacks on pedestrians and cyclists, with National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat saying trapping, tree pruning, and removing nearly 9,000 nests in 2025 weren't enough. Wildlife management officials say shooting combined with other measures will produce a 'gradual and sustained reduction' in crow numbers.

Ecologists point out the city's own street trees, air-conditioning ledges, sheltered walkways, and hawker center food scraps are what let crow, myna, and pigeon populations boom in the first place, a pattern a global review of 400-plus studies and a 2003 Singapore study both confirm. A conservation nonprofit director said culling mainly demonstrates that officials are doing something, rather than addressing why the birds are there.

Ongoing forest clearance for public housing is expected to expand exactly the urban habitat these adaptable species favor. One urban wildlife advocate warned that without a change in approach, the city will stay locked in a cycle of shooting birds it keeps feeding, intentionally or not.

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