The State : Peking Pigeon? Redwood City Likes It

An overabundance of pigeons has driven Redwood City officials to offer 1,200 birds to Peking, where the pigeon population was wiped out in the 1950s. The City Council approved sending a letter in Chinese to Peking’s municipal governor, Xitong Chen, in an effort to kill two birds with one stone. The Peking Pigeon Assn. has been pushing a plan to restore the birds to the city’s Tienanmen Square, because it believes that pigeons would add charm and elegance to their capital. Redwood City Mayor Brenton Britschgi admitted that city officials would be surprised if Peking accepts what he calls the “damned messy things.” But he said, “Maybe this will dramatize just how bad the issue is and we can get something done about it.”