‘Don’t feed seagulls’ campaign gains ground

Yacht operators, who once attracted customers with ads offering opportunity to feed seagulls, are now asking them not to do so

The Mangroves Foundation’s programme for creating awareness to stop people from feeding seagulls during boat rides and in public places has started showing effect. Tourist yacht operators have now started promoting the campaign, asking tourists to not feed the seabirds. Pawan Sharma, founder-president of RAWW, recently brought to the notice of the Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) an incident where a yacht operator was advertising about spotting dolphins and feeding seagulls.

The department took up the matter with the operator, Blue Bay Marine, which immediately pulled down the ad. A forest department official said the yacht operator, in an ad for selling tickets, said that “one can sail off Gateway of India and spot dolphins and feed seagulls on February 27.” Meherzad Kajanwalla of Blue Bay Marine said, “I have been running my company for the past 14 years and until now, I wasn’t aware of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 that prevents feeding of wildlife. ‘Feed Seagulls’ is a term used worldwide to attract tourists, but now that I know the rule, I would never use it on any of our promotions. We will also educate tourists and create awareness.”

Recently, a video had gone viral on social media of a prominent Bollywood actress and her sister feeding seagulls during a yacht trip near Gateway of India, following which Sharma took up the matter with the authorities. “...I request you to look into it and initiate necessary action, including removing the video from social media so that it does not motivate masses,” read his letter to the additional principal chief conservator of forests, Mangrove Cell. Many other wildlife enthusiasts also criticised the actors, who later removed the video posted on a social media platform.

‘Feeding seagulls is considered baiting’

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 was introduced to protect wild animals, birds, including seagulls, and plants. According to a forest department official, “Feeding any kind of wild animal or bird with any type of food--fried or healthy, namkeen, gathiya, etc. is considered baiting, and it is a crime under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.”

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