BirdLife losing hope in battle against hunters

BirdLife Malta said yesterday the first few days of the open season showed there was little hope for improvement in the illegal hunting situation and reiterated its position against the EU derogation allowing the shooting of turtle doves and quails in spring.

Malta is the only country among the 25 EU member states that has a concession for hunting turtle dove and quail at this time of the year.

However, it is not just these two species, but virtually everything that flies, which seem to be a target for hunters: owls, hoopoes, herons, waders, harriers, kestrels and other birds of prey as well as swallows and other small birds were seen being shot or shot at from several localities over the past few days.

"The derogation effectively destroys any hope that these birds can successfully breed again in our islands," BirdLife said.

It was ironic that while breeding birds were protected, turtle doves and quail, both of which had at times bred in Malta and which would undoubtedly breed if left unmolested, could be hunted at this time of the year.

For example, on April 11 last year, a hunter killed a female quail his dog had just flushed only to find a nest with 11 eggs.

Birdlife said it received reports of illegal hunting ranging from the Delimara area in the south to various localities in Gozo. Illegal shooting was again reported for the second consecutive Sunday afternoon of the open season, the organisation said.

Police in Gozo told those who phoned to report illegal hunting that they had three vehicles in which to patrol different areas and were unable to tackle all the reports at once.

An item in The Times yesterday narrated the way hunters were defying the law, vastly outnumbering police in the process. The ALE has 24 policemen working in two shifts, which means that 12 officers have to cope with 12,000 hunters.

Some of the species migrating at this time of the year are listed in annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive and require special protection.

A team from the European Commission will be visiting Malta in the middle of the month to check out the hunting and trapping situation.

They will also check whether the government has established a pilot study for captive breeding of finches and whether a study on mortality of finches in captivity has been carried out. The government was also under the obligation to compel trappers to register the trapping sites by May 1 last year and the Commission delegation is expected to check on this too.

BirdLife urged the public to report illegal hunting to the police on 2122 4001.