Yes, you read that right. Our Kiwi neighbours may have been declared COVID-free but their strict lockdown measures have resulted in a clucking-big problem for the town of Titirangi, near Auckland.
The suburb, which has just under 4,000 residents, had been fighting a battle against an unruly flock of feral chickens for years, The Guardian reports.
Council contractors had been working to catch and rehome the feathered fiends since their numbers peaked at around 250 (what the?!) in 2019, but the quarantine has resulted in a resurgence in numbers, with 20 to 30 birds leaving neighbourhoods looking “wrecked” and residents sleep deprived from the constant clucking.
“It’s reignited old divisions in the village,” Greg Presland, the chair of the Waitākere Ranges community board, which is tasked with addressing the problem.
“There’s a very kind-hearted local who feeds them and has kept feeding them so the numbers have started to spike up again. And we’re convinced that there’s been at least two dumping episodes, where someone’s got their chickens and just dumped them in the village.”
The town has now redoubled its efforts to capture the remaining birds, though some residents have suggested they be sent to a local frozen chicken company.
“The thought’s actually starting to appeal,” Mr Presland said.
Looks like the flock’s days of ruling the roost could be over.
