The Government intends to amend the Wildlife Protection Ordinance to prohibit anyone from feeding wild pigeons and increase the penalty for illegal feeding of wild animals, which is punishable by a fine of up to $10,5 and imprisonment for one year, and introduce a fixed fine of $000,<>. DAB Legislative Council member Ge Peifan pointed out that in the past, from time to time, members of the public continued to feed wild pigeons and were fined and ignored, believing that the government needed to consider new enforcement measures, otherwise the amendment would be useless.


Speaking to RTHK's Millennium programme, DAB Legislative Council member Ge Peifan said that the increasing number of wild pigeons in the community has led to changes in their feeding methods and places of residence, and affected their ability to survive independently in the wild, resulting in an increasing number of wild pigeons in the community and causing public health problems. She said that she often receives complaints from citizens that some people feed wild pigeons regularly, and many wild pigeons gather in the community, and the surrounding area is covered with feces; Wild pigeons were also fed at the air-conditioning troughs and planters of high-rise buildings, causing more wild pigeons to stay outside the windows and unable to open the windows.

Some members of the public ignored the fines and fed Members agreeing that the penalties should be increased

Ge Peifan believes that it is necessary to raise the penalty, but it needs to be sufficient deterrent, and pointed out that there have been members of the public who have continued to feed wild pigeons, but have been fined and ignored, and the situation has been going on for several years. She admits that law enforcement is difficult, "You really want a team of FEHD people to follow them and catch them?" Ge Peifan said that the authorities may consider other law enforcement methods, including drone photography, to emphasize that the amendment can be useful if law enforcement can be successful.

Sham Shui Po District Councillor Mak Wai-ming pointed out that pigeon feeders are mainly elderly people, who mainly concentrate on feeding pigeons from 7 am to 8 am and taking a large bag of rice to feed, and most of the law enforcement officers have not yet started work during this period, so they have not been able to enforce the law. Feeding wild pigeons outside the air-conditioner tank will also cause wild pigeons to gather and wait for feeding, and some wild pigeons will even lay eggs in the air-conditioner tank. In the past, ticket control within the public housing area of law enforcement officers also led to conflicts between the elderly and law enforcement officers, and whether to enforce the law strongly in the future is also an issue to consider. He suggested that the government should keep wild pigeons in captivity to control breeding.

The government plans to amend legislation to ban the feeding of wild pigeons, which means that it causes health problems, and the maximum fine may reach 10,<> yuan