Court exhibits stolen from abattoir cold stores

A number of suitcases containing skins and carcasses of birds and mammals illegally imported from Egypt have again been stolen from the abattoir, sources said yesterday.

About 13 stone slabs were removed by the thieves to make their they way into the cold stores to steal the luggages containing the skins.

This was the second theft of birds and animal skins from the abattoir in two months.

Last September, six suitcases containing the skins of some 750 protected birds were stolen from the abattoir. Four of the suitcases stolen had been seized by Customs and the police in August after they were imported by two men on their return from Cairo via Athens. The value of their contents was estimated at over Lm30,000.

The other two had been seized by the police and Customs in other operations some three years ago. All the suitcases formed part of pending investigations or court cases and were being kept at the abattoir until the court case was over.

The suitcases in both cases contained mostly skins of birds of prey such as eagles, buzzards, vultures, owls and other large birds including spoonbills, pelicans, herons and colourful birds such as little green bee eaters, various species of kingfishers and waders.

Most of the birds are not found naturally in Malta and, hence, are not covered by legal notice 41 of 2003 which defines birds as "any bird which occurs or has occurred in the wild in Malta" and even if the police were to find the exotic birds in hunters' homes or at taxidermists', it would be almost impossible to press charges against anyone about them, sources said yesterday.

"Their possession would not be illegal, even if they had not been registered - because they do not occur naturally in Malta; they are not protected. Prosecution would only be possible if the police can prove the theft," the sources said.

The only exception could be of species such as birds of prey which are covered by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species.

There is brisk underhand trade in protected birds as many hunters seek birds for their collections. Imported eagles sell up to Lm600 per specimen. Other birds, such as flamingos and storks, sell for between Lm30 and Lm100.