Over recent weeks the bird – nicknamed Gulliver – has been causing mayhem on the beach by pestering and dive-bombing runners and dog-walkers and even stealing people’s hats.
Now Environment have said the bird, which is understood to have gained an affection for humans after being hand-reared, is to be shot or trapped and killed.
John Pinel, the Environment Department’s principal ecologist, said: ‘We have been discussing it with the parish of St Ouen to look to solve the problem somehow. We are going to have to deal with it humanely.
‘It is a beautiful bird, it is very friendly and it is habituated to people. I have been down there and it let me pick it up. I just think it is trying to be friendly but unfortunately that manifests itself in dangerous behaviour.
‘We are now seeking a qualified person to deal with it – that could by using a baited trap or by shooting it with a rifle.’
The honorary police in St Ouen have received numerous calls about the bird – including one on Wednesday about it stealing a woman’s hat. It is often found hanging around near the Barge Aground.
Scores of people say they have been pestered by the bird, including dog walker Jarn Dodd who told the JEP last month that it pinched her dog’s tennis ball and on another occasion attacked her chiropractor’s wife.
Seagulls, like almost every bird in Jersey, are protected under the Conservation Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000 so only certain pest controllers are licensed to deal with them.
Mr Pinel said he had heard rumours that the bird had been hand-reared so that could explain its strange behaviour.
‘Our worry is that it could cause someone significant harm – seagulls are large birds. I don’t think it is intentionally hounding people out of anger but if it interacted with a small child it could lead to a really nasty accident,’ he said.
Mr Pinel urged anyone concerned about the seagull to avoid the area around Barge Aground for the next fortnight until it is dealt with.
