Bhubaneswar, Nov. 27: Experts from Nandankanan zoo have placed a trap near the runway of Biju Patnaik Airport to catch jackals and dogs roaming inside the airport boundary and especially near the runway.

Of late, apart from the bird-hit menace, the movement of animals inside the airport has become a headache for aviation officials.

The trap resembles a mousetrap and a chicken is kept as bait. When a jackal or a dog tries to grab the chicken, it gets trapped.

Assistant director of Nandankanan zoo Kamal Lochan Purohit said: “The trap near the runway at the city airport is placed at a place that is frequented by canines. Later, the the Airports Authority of India (AAI) people can move it to other locations where they suspect movement of jackals or dogs. AAI officials are also planning to have more traps in the future so that the movement of jackals and dogs can be controlled.”

The jackal and dog menace near the runway and the bird-hit problem has assumed such proportions that it was discussed during a visit of the ministry of civil aviation secretary K.N. Shrivastava to the state on November 21.

During a visit to airport in the last week of October, the civic authorities had raised the issue of trimming the tall grass on the premises with a machine to curb the jackal menace as they felt that manual cutting was not of much help. Tall grass also helps multiply the rodent population, which attracts birds such as kites.

However, senior AAI officials said that Bhubaneswar airport was not big enough to justify mechanical trimming of grass and bushes.

“The present manual method is sufficient to control the spread of grass here. Mechanical cutting is also not feasible given the business we are generating,” said an official.

Since Sunday, the Odisha Forest Development Corporation has begun cutting down trees near the airport wall at Gandamunda to restrict the nesting of birds in the area.

In July, safety officials of the airport had said in a report that large trees near the airport boundary and adjacent areas including a closed biscuit manufacturing unit were causing problems because they attracted birds.

Airport director Sharad Kumar said: “We have also requested the zoo authorities to conduct a survey on the bird species around the city airport so that the identification and flight nature of that particular species could be known in details.”

Primarily, five species of birds are found at the city airport. AAI officials said there were six bird-hit cases in 2009, 16 in 2010, 22 in 2011 and eight including the latest in August 30 this year.

“In 2009 and 2010, quite a few of these cases occurred while the aircraft was taking off, lately, they have been happening more while landing. Since last year, the incidents have been taking place near the approach path of the aircraft,” said Kumar, adding that the problem of cleanliness around the airport was primarily responsible for these incidents.