Birds desert 'birds park' in Saudi Arabia

At a green area in the Saudi western town of Taif, a big blue signboard stares at passers-by, bearing the words “The Birds Park.” But the words no longer reflect reality.

Visitors to that park will no longer see the massive number of birds that they had used to see. What is left is only five pigeons.

“The birds are deserting their own garden in Taif,” the Saudi Shams Arabic language daily said in its headline.

“What is left inside are only four male and one female pigeons….what happened to all those birds that had packed the park and planted a smile of happiness on the lips of citizens.”

The paper said the park had attracted hundreds of peacocks, falcons, doves, sparrows and many other species of birds for years before it started to look “haunted” over the past few weeks.

The park is managed by Taif’s secretariat (municipality) and the paper said it did not know what is holding the remaining pigeons.

“I come here every day…..I feel sad as I no longer see those hundreds birds that used to plant life in this park,” said Abdul Aziz Suwaedi, a resident of Taif. “What makes me more sad is that those remaining pigeons hardly find any food so I bring food with me every day and feed them…this is a serious negligence.”

The paper quoted Taif municipality officials as saying they are not attending to that park because they are planning to set up a new birds park at another site in the city.

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