The extent of a long running cull of gulls in Inverness has probably peaked, according to a business leader involved in removing their eggs.
City councillors learned yesterday that 6,091 eggs had been removed over the past four years, 1,753 of those in 2015.
The effort prompted praise for the Business Improvement District (Bid) initiative which has been key to tackling the problem.
Updating councillors at the Town House, Bid manager Mike Smith said: “We think it’s made a significant difference but it’s a long term project.
“We’re covering a wider area and it’s more effective, but I think it will level out or reduce from that level for the future.
“When we started there had been no intervention, as far as I’m aware, into the problem. We surveyed in 2012 when there were 700 breeding pairs of gulls in the city centre.”
Thomas Prag, who raised the issue of the gull menace several years ago, praised the Bid effort.
“If Bid wasn’t there – and I was a big fan of it being set up – it was a bit of an experiment at the time but that has allowed us to work with the private sector probably more easily than if we’d done it on our own.”
