Forestry officials in the northeastern industrial city of Shenyang are pondering the knotty issue of whether they should chase away the large flocks of crows gathering in downtown trees, as citizens' complaints pile up about their noise and droppings.

The forestry bureau recently received a proposal from the Shenyang Municipal People's Congress, in which the lawmakers requested, on behalf of some citizens, to have the birds removed as soon as possible from a busy downtown street.

Nanjing Street, one of the busiest commercial streets in the capital of Liaoning Province, is dubbed "Crows' Street" as tens ofthousands of crows would perch high up in its trees from dusk to daybreak, undaunted by the hustle and bustle of city life.

Local residents say their dark-feathered neighbors first arrived more than 10 years ago but have been coming in greater numbers over the past three years. "Like sand blowing in the sky," said a boy as he tried to count the number.

The crows would gather on street trees from November to March or April, and a tall tree could accommodate more than 100 birds.

Though some citizens are quite interested in the birds, many others find their shrill cries annoying because crows, sad-looking and noisy, are regarded by many Chinese people as an ill omen.

Besides, the crows sometimes carelessly relieve themselves and pedestrians would get unwanted souvenirs on their coats and necks. "We have to avoid going out into the street at night," said an old lady as she pointed to the white droppings on the ground.

However, Prof. Liu Mingyu, head of the Liaoning Provincial Zoological Society, is quite happy with the crows. "It's very clever of them to find such an oasis for the bitter winter," he said.

Liu said the crows were largely from rural areas on the city's outskirts and were forced to find shelter in the city proper, where tall trees and high rises protected them from the coldness.

"Crows are actually state-protected animals, and they eat pests," he said.

According to Prof. Liu, the crows have a fixed timetable like many city-dwellers: they leave their downtown habitat at daybreak to search for food and water in the suburbs, come back late in the afternoon and quietly fall asleep after some chitchat and frolicking.

"If the birds have to be driven out of the city, we could consider building an even better shelter for them, somewhere in the suburbs, so that the birds would happily give up their urban home," said the zoologist.

However, he said the city people might also co-exist with the birds, as many cities in the world had minimized crows' pollution to the urban environment by cleaning the streets more often and installing sound insulation boards on windows.

Forestry bureau sources say they would like to hear more comments from other zoologists, environmentalists and city planning experts, before they decide on the birds' residence permit.

A better ecological environment in Shenyang, home to many large and medium-sized state firms and one of the most polluted cities in the world in the 1980s, is believed by many people to have drawn the crows here in the first place.

The city has invested heavily over the past two decades to curb pollution, by promoting clean production and clean fuel for winter heating. It won the United Nations Center for Human Settlements (Habitat) Scroll of Honor in 1999 for the rapid improvement of its environment.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2004)