Vancouver City Council has voted to allow residents to keep backyard chickens. But across the Pacific, Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, is moving in the opposite direction.

City Council responded to a motion made by Councillor Andrea Reimer, available on the Council website as Motion on Notice #3.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Globe reports that the city government plans to move all chickens out of residential area, "as part of the city's drive to curb avian influenza."

While Indonesia's health ministry rarely releases news about avian flu cases, it was confirmed Friday that a 3-year-old in South Jakarta died of the disease in early February.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.