Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH FEEDING URBAN PIGEONS

Ali Alshehri, Hatim Matooq Badri, Wahaj A. Khan and Mohamed Elamin

Abstract

The presence of urban pigeons around human populations can have negative impacts on the environment and human health. Their presence in urban areas is exacerbated by people who provide them with food, water, and shelter. This study aimed to examine people’s perceptions towards the environmental and human health risks associated with feeding urban pigeons in an attempt to understand actions related to increasing the number of pigeons in urban areas. People’s perceptions were examined in responses to a Twitter feed that trended recently and was related to the topic under study. Six different themes were identified in the responses and used to classify the data under the umbrellas of agreement or disagreement which are; health, environment, religious/humane aspects, financial/materialistic benefits and/or drawbacks, nuisance and/or comfort, and recommendations and/or solutions. It was found that the responses of the majority (49 %) of those who agreed were found to be themed around nuisance. Other responses were found to be themed around financial/materialistic damage (26 %), recommendations/ solutions (25 %) environmental damage (18 %), human health risks (17 %), and religious/humane points of view (14 %). The responses of the majority (69 %) of those who disagreed were found to be themed around religious/humane points of view. Other responses were found to be themed around recommendations/ solutions (16 %), environmental benefits (8 %), comfort (2 %), human health benefits (2 %), and financial/ materialistic benefits (1 %). More work is required to quantify the extent of negative effects caused by the presence of urban pigeons. The results show the complexity of human perceptions; people perceived things and interpreted things differently. Nevertheless, even if urban pigeons had a positive impact on human health and the environment, the scientific literature shows that their impacts are far worse. Therefore, action is needed to minimise the effects currently present.