By admin 
The term ‘Invasive Alien Birds’ may appear as the tagline for the title of the horror Hollywood movie. But for the coastal people of Kenya, this is by no means a movie story.
The authorities and locals are deeply concerned about the menace created by crows from India. They also initiated the process of killing lakhs of crows.
They didn’t target humans like in alfred hitchcock’s horror movie ‘The Birds’. But, for decades, wildlife poaching, attacks on tourist spots and poultry farms have put them in serious trouble.
The poisoning is now being carried out in the towns of Vatamu and Malindi to kill these ferocious crows. The poisoning was aimed at preventing the crows from coming towards Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
Known as ‘Kunguru’ or ‘Kurab’ in the coastal areas, the crows reached East Africa from India and other parts of Asia. They are joining on merchant ships and spreading to other countries as well.
However, it is said that these crows were deliberately brought to the East African region to solve the growing waste problem in the British-ruled Zanzibar archipelago in the 1890s. From there they spread to the mainland as well as the coast of Kenya.
They were first spotted at the Port of Mombasa in 1947. After that, their number swelled exponentially. The increase in population as well as the increase in garbage heaps has naturally become an ideal environment for feeding and breeding for these birds. Also, there are no animals that hunt and eat them.
They are considered to be one of the most harmful and destructive birds in the world.
“They are killing not only birds, but also mammals and reptiles. They are very dangerous for biodiversity,” Jap Gizbursten, a Dutch ornithologist who visited kenya’s Watamu region, told the BBC.