According to RBC, in 2021-2022, the authorities intend to allocate a total of 42.6 million rubles for the extermination of crows on the roof of the government building.
Information on these expenses is contained in the explanatory note to the draft federal budget for 2021 and the planned three-year period.
As the publication clarifies, money for measures "to control crow populations on the territory and on the roof of the Government House of the Russian Federation" in 2021-2022 is planned to be allocated in equal tranches of 21.3 million rubles.
How exactly government members intend to fight birds on the roof, the document does not say.
According to bird watchers, the best way to get rid of crows is to attract their natural enemies - hawks and falcons - to the city. If officials resort to the mass extermination of crows, then such a measure will not bring the desired effect, since others will fly to replace the destroyed birds of one breed.
In some countries, metropolitan residents have found a way to tame crows, which turned out to be unusually intelligent and well-trained. For example, in the French province of Vendeya, the authorities took a raven “into service”: six specially trained birds began to collect garbage in a local park. They are dexterous in finding and taking away packages, bottles and cigarette butts left by visitors to trash cans, cleaning lawns and sidewalks.