Sparrows culled with air rifle in cafe area

Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Sparrows were picked off with an air rifle in a controlled extermination at the University of Auckland on Sunday.

The small birds are considered a health hazard at cafes because they can spread diseases like salmonella, which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting.

Bird controllers say the shooting method is not unusual, as sparrows are incredibly hard to trap or deter.

University spokesman Bill Williams confirmed last night that a cull had taken place at the business school building in Grafton Rd.

"Sparrows get into the building. They come in the front, into the atrium. Because they carry disease and food is consumed in that part of the building, among others, we have to have a cull from time to time. It's a health and safety issue."

He said the university considered drugging the sparrows with a bait which reduced the birds' temperature, putting them into a coma until they died.

"But we decided to use the shooting option. Someone goes in with an air rifle and picks off the sparrows. That's the most humane way of doing it, rather than poisoning them."

But a business school staffer has objected to the cull.

"I believe it's cruel, especially in this country that is pro-environment," the employee said.

Allan Riley, who specialised in making buildings bird-proof, said it was not unusual for such eradication measures to be taken against sparrows.

"It depends on the situation. You can trap them, which is very difficult. You can shoot them, which is very difficult. Or you can poison them, but never get them all."

Ten years ago, health officials called for greater food safety and hygiene after "sparrow salmonella", a strain of bacterial disease, killed one elderly man and put another 80 people in hospital.

At the time the Auckland Zoo poisoned 150 sparrows which flitted around its cafeteria after the birds were found to be infected with the salmonella 160 strain.