Sadiq Khan’s Transport for London has been blasted over its ‘barbaric’ pigeon cull that left 655 birds killed in a London Tube clearout.
TfL has defended the practice, which sees contractors shooting pigeons in its stations with air rifles.
It comes after Freedom of Information (FOI) requests revealed that hundreds of birds have been killed by contractor Mitie in the past two years.
Michael Britton, founder of London Bird Rescue, called the culls "an incredibly archaic, barbaric and unintelligent approach to wildlife management".
The FOI requests, gathered by wildlife group Manchester Pigeon Rehab, revealed there were more than 120 organised shootings at Tube depots and stations between March 2024 and March 2026, with 655 birds being killed.
TfL said pigeon waste "carries risks of bacteria and insects, while nesting and waste material creates fire hazards and structural damage".
A TfL spokesman said: "Our approach is focused on prevention, and the avoidance of animal cruelty is taken very seriously.
"We continue to invest in preventative measures as our primary approach, exhausting all appropriate non-lethal methods, and have significantly increased our mitigations on stations and in depots as part of this work.
"Unfortunately, in a small number of cases, preventative measures are not always successful or effective, creating an unsafe environment.
"When this is the case, we work with our suppliers to ensure that the removal of pigeons, or their nests, is undertaken with consideration and only ever as a last resort when other deterrents have failed."
Shootings usually take place in the early hours of the morning when stations are closed to passengers.
Mr Britton told the BBC: “Culling has been proven to be an ineffective long-term solution, particularly at open-air sites, and, conversely, can actually increase population numbers.
“Many companies and corporations have adopted a far more successful 'no-kill' approach, by making necessary modifications to infrastructure and utilising effective, humane deterrents such as 'anti-perch' slopes.
“In countries with a more proactive and intelligent stance, such as France, Germany and Switzerland, the use of dovecotes has been proven to be a fantastic solution.
“I would strongly urge TfL to immediately revise their wildlife management strategy and adopt a non-lethal policy.”
All wild birds are protected within the UK by legislation that makes it illegal to kill or injure birds, as well as cause damage to their nests.
However, the government issues licences to authorised individuals or pest controllers to control feral pigeons to allow prevention of serious disease and protect the public’s health and safety.
TfL said: "humane bird dispatchers are used to make the process as swift as possible without causing unnecessary pain to the animal".
