A large murder of crows is perched on power lines and utility equipment in a residential area in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Jan. 29. Korea Times photo by Choi Joo-yeon
More than 980 households in Busan lost power Sunday after a crow came into contact with electrical equipment, authorities said. The outage left residents without air conditioning for about an hour amid a record-breaking heat wave.
This incident came only a day after another outage affected 986 households in the same city, which authorities also believe was caused by crows coming into contact with power facilities. On July 8, a similar incident also occurred in Seoul’s Mapo District, when a crow touched a high-voltage line on a utility pole, cutting power to 286 households.
In some cases, the consequences are far more serious than a temporary loss of convenience. On June 30, a ready-mix concrete truck driver was severely injured after being electrocuted in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, when a crow’s contact with a utility pole caused a 22,900-volt power line to snap and fall onto his vehicle.
These cases are part of a broader rise in crow-related problems as they become increasingly visible in urban areas, where they can build nests near power lines and forage in residential neighborhoods. They are also blamed for other issues such as noise, droppings and attacks on pedestrians walking near their nests.
