Zoo hires people to dress up as birds to scare away seagulls

A zoo is recruiting people to wear giant inflatable bird costumes to scare off seagulls.

Blackpool Zoo posted the advert for ‘Seagull Deterrents’ after a spate of food thefts from visitors and enclosures.

One requirement is candidates must be ‘outgoing’ as they ‘need to be comfortable wearing a bird costume’.

The full job advert reads: ‘At Blackpool Zoo it goes without saying that we love all animals! And as a seaside resort, Blackpool is not short of seagulls.

‘However, the seagulls are proving to be a bit of a nuisance when it comes to trying to steal food from our visitors and our animal enclosures!

‘We need to do what we can to keep the seagulls away from our main visitor dining areas, which is why we are looking for a team of people to join our Visitor Services team as “Seagull Deterrents”.’

The successful candidate must also be ‘focused, energetic, friendly, and flexible’.

It comes after a seagull had to be put down after it was dragged along the streets of the seaside town on a leash.

The RSCPA said the incident was ‘distressing’ and ‘totally inappropriate’.