Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport deploys 20 intelligent pigs to deter avian infiltrators

Working on a strange and unique idea, the authorities at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport recently deployed at least 20 "intelligent pigs" in order to ensure safe flight landings, according to reports of The Register. The Schiphol Airport, which is the main international airport of the Netherlands and situated about 10km southwest of Amsterdam, has its area surrounded by lush greenery and often has a lot of stagnant water, which makes it an appealing spot for birds to roost and forage for food. Moreover, the area is also surrounded by farmlands and some parts of the airport area which is not under concrete are used to grow crops. This attracts a large variety of birds and geese. 

According to The Register, the Schiphol airport which is considered as one of Europe's busiest airports, is currently dealing with geese and other species as farmers have recently harvested sugar beet which attracts thousands of birds, and this could prove fatal for flight landings at the airport. In order to keep these birds and geese away from the runway, the airport authorities have deployed 20 pigs between two of the airport's six runways immediately after the sugar beet crop was harvested. These birds usually descend on the leftover scraps and critter-rich overturned and exposed soil.

'Pigs eat the crop residues so that there will be nothing left for the geese': Authorities

According to the authorities, the Schiphol airport has a special bird-detecting radar and laser technology that continuously monitors birds near the runway areas. However, the technology failed to keep these birds away from the flight landing area. "The pigs were immediately brought to the field within 12 hours of the sugar beet harvest on Tuesday," The Register quoted Josse Haarhuis, the pigs' owner and proprietor of Buitengewone Varkens (Extraordinary Pigs) as saying to the Dutch paper De Telegraaf. "They eat the crop residues so that there will be nothing left for the geese to get."

According to the reports, Dutch flag carrier KLM had reported 6.6 bird strikes per 10,000 aircraft movements in 2019. Subsequently, the authorities installed 20 bird controllers called "lapwings" near the farmland areas. The lapwings provide signals to air traffic control using walkie-talkies. The airport officials said that the geese are a particular problem at the airport, with over 7,000 of the cranky, belligerent fowl rounded up and killed in 2014 alone.

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