by johnnymarin | May 30, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
CCTV footage of an explosive attack at the local police headquarters in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, on Monday.
Three church bombings in Surabaya during Sunday services, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 40, and the bombing of a police station in the same city yesterday killing 10 are merely the latest manifestations of an increase in terrorist activity in Indonesia.
Attacks on two other churches were planned for Sunday, but those bombs failed to detonate. The church attacks apparently were carried out by members of one family. Yesterday’s attack involved members of another family.
Churches are targeted by Indonesian extremists who oppose the practising of other religions there. But this is the first attack on places of worship since 2011. The worst attack on churches in the past 20 years was on Christmas Eve 2000, when co-ordinated bombings of churches in Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Medan, Bandung, Batam Island, Mojokerto, Mataram and Sukabumi killed many worshippers.
Another serious incident this month was a riot and siege hostage situation on May 8 at the Depok, West Java, detention centre. Six died, including five members of Detachment 88, Indonesia’s elite police counter-terrorism unit.
The detention centre is a heavily guarded compound of the local headquarters of the Mobile Brigade Corps, a paramilitary unit of the National Police, protected by officers from Detachment 88.
The Detachment 88 officers apparently were tortured before having their throats cut by prisoners influenced by Islamic State.
Wawan Purwanto, communications director at Indonesia’s intelligence agency, says the prison incident, like the church bombings, involved suspected members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah.
Jamaah Ansharut Daulah is a terrorist organisation with close links to Islamic State. It was proscribed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation in January last year; it was not proscribed by Australia until this week when Peter Dutton moved swiftly to do so.
Jamaah Ansharut Daulah was organised in 2015 by Islamic State fighter Bahrun Naim from Syria. It has several hundred members and is active in eight Indonesian provinces. It is a coalition of about two dozen extremist groups that pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The group’s spiritual leader is Indonesia’s leading Islamic State proponent, cleric Aman Abdurrahman, who with Naim is said to have ordered the January 2016 attack in central Jakarta that killed four people and wounded 25. The attack was financed from Syria. Aman is on trial for several bombings, including the 2016 murders, and is being held in isolation at a jail in Depok. Bahrun Naim is believed to have been killed at Raqqa in Syria last December.
The various Jamaah Ansharut Daulah groups are likely to contain many Indonesian foreign fighters from the hundreds who have returned in the past two years. Last year, Turkey arrested almost 500 Indonesians, including family members, who had entered Turkey from Syria. They were later released to return home.
Many of the returnees claim to have been involved in humanitarian work in Syria and say they had nothing to do with Islamic State. In any case, terrorist attacks by Indonesians must occur within Indonesia for the perpetrators to be punishable under Indonesian law. Many returnees were never arrested; and many others were arrested and then released.
Indonesia also has an ongoing problem with radicalisation in jails, from which prisoners often are released more radicalised than when they went in. When indoctrinated prisoners are released, there is inadequate monitoring of their activities and movements.
Indonesia’s security authorities may have become complacent with the decline of terrorist groups Jemaah Islamiah and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, and the 2011 incarceration of firebrand cleric and ideologue Abu Bakar Bashir for 15 years.
Bashir was the co-founder and leader of Jemaah Islamiah, responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Its stated motive was retaliation for the US’s conduct of the so-called war on terror and Australia’s role in the liberation of East Timor. It has been operationally inactive since 2010. Bashir was also the founder and leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid.
From 2008, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid sought to establish an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia and carried out attacks in an attempt to achieve that goal. In December 2012, local members in central Sulawesi killed four police officers and wounded two others. Since then it has been relatively inactive.
But Indonesia now faces new security challenges for which it looks to be largely unprepared.
While it seems likely that recent terrorist attacks in Indonesia are inspired by Islamic State rather than directed by it, the rise in Islamic State’s influence has potential implications for the security of Australians in Indonesia.
After 2011, terrorist attacks in Indonesia seemed to shift from targeting foreign Western interests and residents to attacking Indonesian police officers. However, during the past year, Islamic State has encouraged revenge against Australians for our participation in the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which led to the loss of its physical caliphate, and our support for the Armed Forces of the Philippines in last year’s five-month battle to regain control of Marawi from Islamic State-linked militants. The Marawi battle left almost 1000 militants dead.
Indonesia may need more security assistance from Australia to get on top of its Islamic State-linked situation and it would be in our interest to provide it.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | May 29, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
A woman corporator was recently stalked by a grain seller after she objected to feed being sold for pigeons on Juhu beach.
Renu Hansraj said residents of societies adjacent to the beach had complained of health issues, caused by bird droppings, after large flocks of pigeons started feeding on grain on the beach. When she took this up with the vendor, he responded with: “Everyone would die the way they were destined to.”
Hansraj later recorded her statement with Juhu police.
“A vendor has been selling bird feed for nearly four hours every morning behind Hotel Ramada Plaza Palm Grove. Morning walkers buy grains from him and feed birds. We have requested him repeatedly to move to another stretch of the beach where there are no housing societies, in vain. Pigeon droppings are harmful and have worsened respiratory ailments of residents living adjacent to the current feeding site,” Hansraj said.
On May 4, she went to the beach around 6am to check on the situation.
“I was told the vendor was making as much as Rs 10,000 a day selling bird feed. One of the morning walkers entered into an argument with the vendor over his site of business. I intervened to broker peace as there were many others out for a walk and I did not want anyone to get disturbed. Around 7.15am, while I was headed home on foot, I noticed the vendor following me on his two-wheeler near Hotel JW Marriott. He said he wanted to speak to me. I asked why he hadn’t spoken to me on the beach in the presence of others. He lied that he sold bird feed on the beach for only half an hour. I told him we had no objection to his business, but only to the location he had chosen,” Hansraj said.
The vendor then tried to intimidate her by dropping names of politicians. At this, Hansraj told him to sell bird feed outside those politicians’ homes.
“I told him there was a five-year-old child suffering from bronchitis and a couple of asthma patients living in the building outside which he was doing business,” she said.
People across the city have time and again voiced concern about the unchecked growth in pigeon populations.
Veterinary microbiologists have linked as many as 60 diseases to pathogens released from pigeon droppings. Lung ailments and skin diseases top the list. Siddhesh Surve, who was formerly associated with Bombay Natural History Society, told TOI people should feed sparrows instead of pigeons.
“Pigeons do not clean their nests, unlike other birds, and their nests carry a lot of insects which can harm humans. Instead, people can buy sparrow feeders and put these up on windows.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | May 28, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
As pigeon racing season approaches, pigeon fanciers will be taking their pigeons further away from their lofts for training.
Pretoria pigeon fancier Elaine Russell said this was done firstly to get their old birds fit and secondly for the young birds to build up stamina and to orientate themselves to go back to the loft.
“At this time of the year, there are thousands of pigeons being trained all over Gauteng and, unfortunately, some do get injured or lost,” she said.
Russel said there have been numerous enquiries on social media on how one goes about reporting these pigeons.
She provided useful information for non-pigeon fanciers, should a racing pigeon land at their residence tired or injured.
The first step is to check if the pigeon has a coloured identification ring on its leg, e.g. GPU (Gauteng Pigeon Union) ZA17 (year of issue) 13309 (ring number).
“If the pigeon does not have a ring on its leg, it is more likely a wild or feral pigeon, rather than a racing pigeon,” she said.
“If it is a seasoned racing pigeon, there may be an electronic ring on the pigeon’s another leg, which should have a sticker on it with the telephone number of the ring steward of the union or federation to which the pigeon owner belongs.”
Russel said most lost pigeons are hungry and thirsty.
“Water is necessary before all else – please ensure water is available in a deep dish,” she said.
“If you can provide food, then please give either birdseed, whole mealies or uncooked rice or lentils.”
She urged residents to not feed racing pigeons bread.
“We, as pigeon fanciers, thank you in advance for taking the time and effort to look after and report our pigeons,” she said.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | May 27, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Why do pigeons roost on roofs or gutters?
Pigeons like comfortable sunny places that are safe from predators and has abundant food and water. The nests are built of twigs but quickly become so covered in droppings that they look like a big pile of waste. When the babies are born, they are a dull brown and are perfectly camouflaged in the nest. Gutters are dish-shaped and provide great nesting sites that securely hold the nests. Pigeons nest and roost on and in houses because it gives them a good view of nearby feeding areas or because they have gained access to the interior of the building. They usually access buildings through broken windows, missing or loose vents or any other small gap or opening. Pigeons also like high places because they are able to keep a close watch on their surroundings and spot predators. Pigeons are social birds and each flock works as a team. Someone always has an eye out for danger.
Where do pigeons normally live?
Pigeons live in every part of the world but the North and South Poles. They started out as pets, but through accidental or intentional release have developed into perhaps the most common feral bird. Originally, they liked places with lots of grain, like farms, especially when they are near areas with good nesting sites in high and inaccessible places, like cliffs or buildings. Once known as ‘rock doves’, pigeons live anywhere there is adequate food and shelter and are common in most urban and suburban areas. Stadiums and fast-food restaurants, parks and bridges, airports and schools – all are common pigeon environments.
What is the difference between parrots and parakeets?
Parakeets are also a group of parrots. However parrots are much larger than parakeets. Parakeets are less than a foot while parrots can go to one metre long and some can weigh around four kg.
Is a flaky beak normal in parrots?
A parrot’s beak serves not only in eating, but also as a ‘hand’ in climbing. Like our nails, birds beaks are made of keratin and keep growing throughout their life time. There is always new beak tissue growth under the existing beak and, after some time, the outer beak is being sloughed off. You may see a parrot hurry the process of outer beak peeling by rubbing its beak against hard surfaces. Sometimes a poor diet will cause problems to birds’ beaks.
This can be remedied by offering a variety of fresh foods and high quality multi-vitamins/minerals supplements. A good tip is to provide a piece of cuttlebone to your pet parrot for its beak grinding. This will increase its intake of calcium and help to prevent the beak from overgrowing.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | May 26, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
A few years ago, there was talk about how one no longer spots the humble sparrow within the city. Noticed how the number of crow sightings have also reduced? Once a staple of the Bengaluru skyline, crows are becoming a rare sight. We spoke to ornithologist MB Krishna — who, confirming that the number of crows has, in fact, reduced in the city — says that this is a warning sign.
“It’s not only crows, but a lot of other garden and woodland birds in the city whose numbers have also dwindled. As a rough rule of thumb, this drop has been by 95% for many species over the last three decades. Although there is no quantitative study done across the city yet, just like the sparrow decline, the reduction of crows is noticeable,” says Krishna, who adds that there are many reasons for this.
Crows, says Krishna, are essentially scavengers and are not getting enough food in the city. They also require a certain amount of tree cover, because crows build nests on trees and need twigs to make their nests. Due to the drastic reduction in tree cover, crows are unable to reproduce. “Another reason is the rise in pollution levels. Birds have a high metabolic rate, since flight requires a lot of energy. Therefore, crows take in a large proportion of toxins. Pollution also adversely impacts the population of some insects, which are a source of food for birds. So, crows are directly or indirectly not getting enough food,” says Krishna.
An offshoot to the reduction of crows in the city is that the number of pigeons seem to have drastically increased. “Not only pigeons,” says Krishna, adding, “The number of barn owls has also increased. Unlike crows, pigeons and barn owls can adapt to multi-story buildings. The increase in garbage in the city means that there are more rats, which is what barn owls feast on.”
So, what impact does this have on the ecology? “More than an ecological impact, birds are a warning system. Crows are important scavengers of human debris (the garbage that people throw out), but they also have a big role in sending out warning signals that something is amiss. Considering that a successful species like crows is seeing a decline in numbers sounds a warning bell to us all. The decline in green cover and the alarming rise in pollution levels will invariably have an impact on us, just as it has had on crows. These birds are telling us that it’s time to act,” signs off Krishna.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
