Urban pigeons are among the most common city birds and among the most frequently poisoned and killed as pests. Evidence-based, welfare-conscious population management achieves better results with less harm.
Urban pigeon management demonstrates the welfare failure of culling as a control strategy: it causes suffering without achieving population reduction because territorial dynamics drive rapid rebound. Integrated management combining food source reduction with contraception achieves sustainable population reduction with dramatically less welfare harm. The persistence of poisoning and trapping programs despite evidence of their ineffectiveness reflects management inertia rather than evidence-based decision-making.