Bad press for Malta as illegal hunting continues

As reports of illegal shooting of migratory birds continue to pour in, the British press has again lambasted Malta as a trigger-happy nation of hunters.

"The slaughter, on land and at sea, includes some of the most familiar and popular species in the UK including swifts, swallows and house martins, sky larks, song thrushes, robins and turtle doves," the Scotsman has reported.

Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, was quoted as saying: "It is ironic that, while people in the UK love birds and bird watching, in Malta a fanatical minority is obsessed with killing as many birds as it can.

"The Maltese authorities recognise that this indiscriminate slaughter is a huge blot on Malta's reputation as a desirable tourist destination that horrifies bird and nature lovers in Britain, and we fully support their efforts to stamp out all illegal shooting activity."

On a positive note, Mr Knight said that last October he went out on a sea patrol with the Maltese police and saw first-hand their determination to catch hunters who are flouting the law.

The IAR is in fact going to provide more firepower to the police in their battle against hunters when it donates a high-powered patrol boat to them on Friday. The boat is intended to help the police intercept hunters illegally shooting birds at sea, many of which would be on their way to breeding grounds in northern Europe.

Max Farrugia, spokesman for the local branch of IAR, said the new 70 mph, 250 horsepower boat had been designed and custom-built in Malta to support the work of the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit.

In recent years, the IAR also donated a high-speed rigid inflatable boat and two high-powered marine engines to the unit to help them track down hunters acting illegally.

"We prefer action rather than lobbying. We know shooting at sea is still rife and we're trying to do our utmost to help. We spoke to the police several times and we know that with more personnel and equipment they can catch more hunters flouting the law," he told The Times.

The ALE has more than 23 officials dedicated to protecting wildlife and the environment, but they lack equipment. Reports in the media recently showed that several hunters were defying the law as police resources were stretched to the limit.

Indeed, a recent European Commission monitoring mission to Malta seems to have had little impact on some hunters, as is evident from the continued reports of illegal hunting reaching BirdLife Malta.

Purple herons, little egrets, night herons, marsh harriers, kestrels, swallows and swifts were among the species gunned down over the past days, BirdLife lamented.

A flock of little egrets on Friday was disturbed by illegal hunting as five shots were heard off Anchor Bay. Another flock of 20 night herons flying over l-Ahrax Point was again greeted by lead shot.

Marsh harriers were shot at in the limits of Zurrieq and Ghar Lapsi on Saturday afternoon. In Gozo, illegal hunting was reported with marsh harriers again being easy targets.

Nick Hanley, who led the EU delegation to Malta last week, had remarked: "We go away very largely reassured that the picture sometimes painted by the press is not quite as bad as it appears to be on the ground."

But BirdLife hit back saying this seemed hardly the case judging from the continued illegal hunting reports and from the workload of the ALE police.

"It is clear that the situation on the ground is actually far worse than depicted in the press," it claimed.

With spring bird migration reaching its peak in the next three weeks, the government's spring hunting concession for turtle dove and quail would again be "used and abused" by many irresponsible hunters to shoot anything within gunshot.

The concession effectively ensures that turtle dove, quail or other birds larger than a sparrow will be killed within days, BirdLife said.

The EU officials said last week that the government would have to report back to the Commission at the end of the year on how it ensured that the spring concession was satisfying the conditions laid down by the Birds Directive.