Tokyo taxi driver arrested, accused of running over pigeon

In Japan, feral pigeons can be killed only if they are a proven nuisance – such as causing damage to crops and livestock – and only with the approval of local authorities. Photograph: Richard Bedford/Alamy

To some, they are another species of feathered friend; to others, they are rats with wings whose droppings deface historic buildings.

But in Japan, pigeons may have become the victims of crime, after police arrested a Tokyo taxi driver on suspicion of deliberately driving into a flock of the birds, killing one of them.