社会｜カラス鳴き声でふん害対策 / Society | Measures to Address Crow Damage Using Their Calls

Summary

In Kumamoto City, measures are being implemented to prevent damage caused by the Miyama crow, which arrives during the winter. This involves playing recordings of other crow calls in busy shopping areas.

This initiative takes advantage of the crows’ natural instinct to be wary of unfamiliar sounds. Although the population of crows during this year’s peak was about 15% lower than the previous year, there are still challenges, as crows that have learned to ignore these sounds are less affected. The city continues to experiment and search for more effective solutions.

Dialogue

This dialogue is fictional and based on the article.

Chako: Hey Log, it’s interesting that playing crow cawing sounds can help prevent damage!
Log: Yeah, it’s a strategy that utilizes the behavior of crows. However, there’s the challenge that it’s less effective on crows that can learn.
Chako: Really? Why do they learn?
Navi: Crows are very intelligent and can change their behavior based on their environment, so it’s thought that they recognize the effect of the sounds they hear.
Log: That’s why we need other measures as well. I’m looking forward to our future trial and error!

Admin’s Note

The approach of using the cawing of crows as a countermeasure is very interesting, as it is based on an understanding of the ecosystem in nature. However, the challenge of its limited effectiveness on learning individuals is an important point for future research and strategies. I would like to pay attention to how local communities address this issue moving forward. In considering coexistence between crows and humans, it will be necessary to find more sustainable solutions.