S'pore to reintroduce crow shooting from 2nd half of March 2026

Crow shooting operations will be brought back in Singapore from the second half of March 2026 to augment existing crow management efforts.

The resumption was announced by Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat on Feb. 23.

Crow-related complaints tripled between 2020 and 2025

In a media factsheet, the National Parks Board (NParks) explained that house crows are an invasive, non-native species in Singapore and "pose a threat to biodiversity".

Since crow shooting operations ceased in 2020, the authorities have implemented various measures to manage the crow population, including crow trapping and removal and nest removal.

However, NParks noted that the crow population has increased and public complaints have also increased sharply.

Crow-related feedback received by the Municipal Services Office have tripled from close to 5,000 cases in 2020 to about 15,000 cases in 2025.

Feedback on crow aggression surged from over 460 cases in 2020 to more than 2,000 cases in 2025.

In 2025, 9,000 crow nests were removed islandwide, up from over 600 in 2021, NParks said.

The number of crows trapped and removed by NParks also rose from more than 1,800 in 2021 to over 13,000 in 2025.

Safety protocols to be put in place

NParks said it has worked with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Police Force to review safety protocols.

These include ensuring the trajectory of the shotgun pellets is directed upwards at all times, cordoning off the shooting zone with clear signage, and deploying additional personnel to manage public access and restrict unauthorised movement during operations.

The operations will also be carried out by licensed wildlife management contractors who are certified in the handling of firearms.

NParks said the progressive resumption of crow shooting will allow it to refine safety protocols and fine-tune risk mitigation measures before scaling up its operations.

Continued crow population growth may affect residents' safety: Chee

Announcing the resumption, Chee pointed out that crow shooting operations were part of Singapore's crow population management efforts until 2020.

"Unfortunately, there were a few incidents where pellets struck nearby buildings due to human errors, including non-compliance with safety protocols by the auxiliary police officers," Chee said, adding that enforcement actions have been taken against the officers involved.

Chee explained that the safety of residents will be affected if the crow population continues to grow, so he has asked NParks to resume crow shooting as "one of the measures to reduce the crow population in Singapore".

"Together with the other ongoing measures such as trapping and nest removal, I hope that the resumption of shooting can help to bring down the crow population in different parts of Singapore, and provide a safer environment for our residents," Chee added.

NParks also said the public can help reduce the growth of crow population by not feeding them and ensuring that food scraps are properly disposed of.

Under the Wildlife Act, offenders can be fined up to S$5,000 for their first offence of feeding any wild animal, including crows, and up to S$10,000 for subsequent offences.

Top image via George Lim/ Facebook & Audrey Lee/ NParks