Järvenpää | Nature photographer: Worker drove gull chicks to their deaths, maintenance company denies allegations

A nature photographer has accused a maintenance company employee of deliberately causing the deaths of two protected gull chicks by driving them off the roof of a residential building in Järvenpää, Finland. The incident, which occurred on Thursday morning, has sparked a dispute between the photographer and the company.

“

We saw how he approached towards that roof edge that was facing us. As he walked towards it, a chick rose over the edge, having no other escape route than over the edge to the ground. The chick tried to flap its wings in the air, fell to the ground, and began to die there.

Auli Leivonen, a nature photographer, told Helsingin Sanomat that she had been observing a family of gulls nesting on the roof of the apartment building for some time. She witnessed a maintenance worker from Aronia-Palvelut Oy approach the nest. According to Leivonen, as the worker walked towards the edge of the roof, one chick was forced over the side.

"The chick tried to flap its wings in the air, fell to the ground, and began to die," Leivonen recounted, adding that she was deeply distressed by the sight. She later found a second dead chick. Leivonen stated she contacted the maintenance company, which apologized but she warned them of her intention to file a criminal complaint.

“

I cried profusely as that chick died before my eyes.

Aronia-Palvelut Oy has denied Leivonen's account, asserting in a Facebook post that their employee did not chase the chicks. The company claims the worker was cleaning roof drains and did not realize the chicks were there until he approached. They stated the employee had no contact with the birds and did not know it was a chick when he approached. The company maintains the two chicks found dead on the ground had likely died before the worker arrived.

“

He just shrugged his shoulders at me and said he didn't know that the nesting season for herring gulls lasted this late. He clearly wasn't interested in the chicks' deaths. He just said, 'Go ahead and file a criminal complaint.'

"We unequivocally deny the allegations that our employee chased the birds or caused their deaths," the company stated. Aronia-Palvelut declined to comment further to Helsingin Sanomat. Leivonen confirmed she has filed a criminal complaint, though police had no record of it by Thursday evening. The incident involves a protected species, the European herring gull, whose chicks' deaths have become a point of contention.

“

He walked closer to determine what it was. Only then did he notice that the object was a gull chick, which immediately took flight or flew off the roof. The employee had no contact with the chick at any point and did not know it was a chick when approaching.