Hunters defy the law, outnumbering police

Several hunters yesterday defied the law and police patrols as flocks of herons, birds of prey and other species, such as hoopoes and cuckoos, sought refuge on land after long, tiring flights from Africa in wind and rain.

Police officers from the administrative law enforcement Unit caught three hunters red-handed shooting at protected species and another was booked after it was found that his gun was not registered with the police.

A hunter from Zabbar was booked after he was seen shooting a marsh harrier, a protected species listed in appendix one of the EU birds directive.

Another hunter was apprehended at Hal-Far after he shot a pallid harrier, another protected bird of prey also in the appendix.

A third hunter was booked after he was seen shooting a song thrush, a bird that can be killed or trapped in autumn but which is protected at this time of the year.

Considerable numbers of kestrels and hoopoes were spotted yesterday, particularly in Gozo when parties of up to six birds were sighted. Flocks of herons were also seen and some flocks consisted of over 50 birds.

At Wied il-Mielah, four purple herons were shot out of a flock of seven.

Hunters were seen following flocks of night herons and shooting at them from pick-up vans.

"Hunters seem less afraid than they were last year. They know the police have only two cars and cannot be everywhere all the time," sources in Gozo said.

At Ghadira, a purple heron with a wing injury landed in the morning, shortly after hunters were seen shooting at purple herons at L-Ahrax.

Reports of illegal hunting activity have increased over the past few days as bird migration picks up.

Five black-winged stilts, of which one was wounded, landed at Ghadira on Sunday afternoon. Another 14 black-winged stilts landed at Ghajn Tuffieha on Sunday afternoon and in no time a hunter had killed three of them.

Hunters were also seen shooting at harriers in Burmarrad on Sunday while shots were fired at lesser kestrels in Dwejra (Malta) on Sunday afternoon, when no hunting is supposed to take place. The lesser kestrels is an endangered bird of prey protected by law.

A bird watcher in Gozo reported seeing some 40 marsh harriers between 5 and 6 p.m. on March 28 and counted at least 30 volleys of shots fired at them. A squacco heron that landed on the rocks in Mgarr was killed shortly after.

"On March 31 in afternoon, when no hunting could take place, over 200 shots were counted in the area of Marsascala.

"In spite of warnings that the police are stepping up inspections, hunters know that the ALE has about 24 policemen working in two shifts, which means that 12 officers have to cope with 12,000 hunters, a clearly impossible task," one birdwatcher said.