Aircraft collided with at least 863 birds and other wild animals last year at Denver International Airport, the second highest strike total in the airport’s history.
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The total was just one percent shy of the record high set in 2024 and is nearly 30% above the airport’s five year average for wildlife strikes.
A collision between a Boeing 737 and a white-tailed jackrabbit last April was particularly impactful.
The rabbit was reportedly ingested into one of the plane's engines during takeoff, forcing the United flight to return to the airport and make an emergency landing.
The strike cost $344,500 in damage to the aircraft, with the engine's fan blades and and oil cooler needing replacement.
DIA contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage wildlife around the airfield.
The agency attributes a significant rise in wildlife strikes over the last decade to a combination of increased air traffic, development near Denver that is pushing more wildlife toward the airport, and more awareness in the aviation community to report strikes.
The public safety threat from such strikes has resulted in a management program that utilizes a combination of lethal animal control and deterrents. Dozens of hawks and owls are also captured and relocated.
According to a March report KUNC News obtained through an open records request, federal agents with Wildlife Services reported killing 6,341 wild animals at the airport last year and hazing away more than 126,000 birds to prevent collisions.
Rock pigeons, red-winged blackbirds and morning doves were the most frequently killed species.
The list of animals lethally controlled is diverse and includes coyotes, badgers, feral cats and several species of birds.
One bull snake was also safely relocated away from the airfield.
Agents also make recommendations to airport officials on how to deter wildlife from accessing the airfield.
New year, same issues
Wildlife Service’s list of identified issues at DIA includes broken chains meant to prevent cliff swallows from nesting, an obsolete canopy that has become a breeding ground for pigeons and a perimeter fence that is in need of reinforcement.
“Currently, small mammals such as coyotes, foxes, raccoons, badgers and rabbits access the airfield at DEN by digging under the perimeter fence,” agents wrote in their latest report. “Wildlife Services continues to remove mammals from the (aircraft operations area), but individuals will continue to access the flightline until they are unable to do so.”
Agents noted that the lack of adequate wildlife fencing comes with a cost.
They report they’ve removed an average of 581 rabbits, 102 coyotes, 6 foxes, 9 racoons and 2 badgers from the airfield each year.
“Direct control of mammals will always be necessary, but the addition of an apron or skirt will reduce mammal strike risk, runway/taxiway incursions, and the time required of (Wildlife Services) and Airside Operations to respond to mammal incursions,” agents wrote.
They noted there are rolls of fencing material stored at the airport's boneyard that could be repurposed to reinforce part of the fence “with no material cost” to the facility.
It’s the second year in a row that federal agents have recommended that DIA improve the perimeter fencing, fix broken exclusionary devices for birds and remove the obsolete canopy that has become a breeding ground for pigeons.
Pictures of these identified problems that were included in a 2024 report on wildlife management activities were reused in the 2025 report published last month.
Asked about the status of the airport acting on the recommendations from Wildlife Services, DIA spokesperson Ashley Forest referred KUNC to the USDA, saying the airport's wildlife team falls under the agency.
Tanya Espinosa, a USDA spokesperson, said Tuesday the department could not accommodate an interview.
