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Résumé :
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Since its introduction to eastern Africa late last century, the Indian House Crow, Corvus splendens, has become a serious pest in many places from East London in the south to Djibouti in the north. House Crows have a major negative impact on indigenous biodiversity, depreciating native birds (especially newly hatched nestlings), small reptiles and mammals. They also cause severe losses to agriculture and animal husbandry, taking eggs and chicks of free-range poultry, attacking new-born kids and calves, and feeding on germinating maize, sorghum and other crops. Over the last twelve years considerable experience has been gained from House Crow control programmes in Djibouti, Malindi (north Kenya coast), Mombasa (south Kenya coast) and Zanzibar Island. On Zanzibar, trapping, carefully supervised poisoning using 'Starlicide' and a breeding season bounty on eggs and chicks reduced the House Crow population in Zanzibar town by 95%, and over the whole island by 75-80% in five years. In Malindi, sustained low-level control by poisoning (following an initial intensive phase) has kept the town nearly free of resident crows at minimal cost. North and south of Mombasa, by contrast, successful initial control work was not followed up and the pest has re-established itself. Reducing House Crow populations provides great economic and conservation benefits, and control techniques are now well understood and highly effective. What is lacking is funding, co-ordination and follow-up to apply these techniques more widely across eastern Africa.
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