Shoot to kill policy sees off crows |24 October 2005

Dispatched to Silhouette, where a lone crow had been spotted, an officer from the Special Support Unit shot the bird, the last known Indian House Crow in the country.

According to the Department of Environment the species originally arrived in Seychelles in 1977, as a stowaway aboard an Indian cargo ship.

Blamed for the loss of fruits, vegetables and poultry and as a possible threat to local wildlife, a R500 bounty was offered for the capture of the crows, around 30 of which had been sighted around north-east Mahe.

Collaboration between environment officials and the Department of Defence led to the pest being declared eradicated in 1994.

However, single individuals were observed in 1998 and 2000, and two birds were spotted during 2002.

Through efforts by the Ministry of Environment, these were soon disposed off, but in June 2005 the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles sighted a lone individual on Silhouette and Nature Seychelles personnel alerted the ministry soon after another around the northeast region of Mahe which was believed to be the same bird.

Search parties were sent out and the bird was located in the vicinity of the Inner island quay. With the help of the Seychelles Police, a sharp shooter from the Special Support Unit was deployed and one month later, the crow was shot.

The last known crow was subsequently shot on Silhouette on October 12.

Article compiled with assistance of Rodney Fanchette, Invasive Alien Species Unit