Britain’s seagull menace

Seagull are seabirds of the family Laridae. Their diet depends mainly on circumstances as they are highly adaptable feeders that opportunistically take a wide range of prey. In recent times, they have been known to show aggressive behaviors especially in areas where they are highly concentrated

The Cornwall residents, south-west England are no exception, with complaints of seagulls attacking pensioners, pets and children. In the past three months, there have been reports of seagulls attacking and killing dogs with the latest incidents involving a 66-year-old woman who was attacked and left with wounds on her head and a 4-year-old boy who had his finger pecked. Residents are being warned that vicious seagulls could start killing unattended ‘babies’ if they are not bought under control.

Sue Atkinson, 66, was left with a head wound after a seagull attack ©APEX

In March, Don Foster was able to secure £250,000 in funding to research ways of preventing or coping with the seagull menace but the Chancellor, George Osborne scrapped the programme in his Conservative budget last month deeming it ‘low priority’. However, the PM, David Cameron has since been forced to admit that there was a problem with seagulls following the frequent attacks in the West Country.