Every year, Toronto sends hundreds of thousands of tons of waste to the Green Lane landfill, about 200 kilometers from the city. Green Lane is the city’s only landfill, and officials warn that it is filling up rapidly.
The massive piles of garbage attract numerous birds, including seagulls and scavenger pigeons. Feeding on the waste makes these birds sick and allows them to spread garbage and microbes to nearby residents.
Studies also show that while scavenging, the birds often ingest plastic, glass, and paper, which can harm their health and threaten their survival.
To tackle this problem, Toronto has been using birds of prey for years. At the Green Lane landfill, a six-year-old sea hawk is flown several times a day to keep scavenger birds away. The hawk doesn’t hunt; its mere presence in the sky is enough to scare hundreds of seagulls from the site.
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