SEAGULL EMERGENCY IN VENICE AND ST MARK’S SQUARE

The Associazione Piazza San Marco has for some time been engaged in the problem of the seagull invasion of St Mark’s Square - though actually a problem affecting the whole city - and met Francesca Coccon, Corila associate, and the ethologist Danilo Mainardi, to find a solution to this ‘siege’ as Elisa Lorenzini termed it today in the Corriere del Veneto. Ms Coccon offered some solutions that can be summarised as: acting on the nests to prevent the eggs from hatching, better management of the rubbish, which increasingly attracts seagulls in search of food, and systems to discourage the presence of seagulls on the roofs and balconies, which these birds use as lookouts to launch themselves onto the food identified. Alberto Nardi, chairman of the Associazione Piazza San Marco, pointed out that it is necessary to change the way the rubbish is collected in the city and the St Mark’s area, therefore calling on Veritas to rethink its management. It is then evident that the problem can be faced with social actions that must involve all citizens, civil education actions that must be combined with technical operations. Meanwhile the hawk and aromatic dissuaders have been dismissed, as Lorenzini notes in her article, ‘the former risks becoming a victim of the seagulls, the latter is of little effect’. Photo Corriere del Veneto