A challenge to hunters

Aaron Vella (Shooter's Responsibilities, April 8) attempts to obscure the issues I raised on March 29, and credits me with statements and innuendos that I did not make. In common with Wylie Cunningham and Joe Aquilina-St. John (April 12), I questioned the real expense to Malta of bird shooting and trapping. I am one of the reluctant "stay-away" tourists mentioned by Mr Cunningham, and I agree with his well-expressed derision of the "conservation" element in the hunting federation's name.

For Mr Vella to state that shooters worldwide "are all responsible individuals" is a claim that beggars belief. The important aspects are momentary irresponsibility and the risk of accidents when shooting in a public place. I cite the case reported last year of the German tourist who saw a hunter kill a duck within a few metres of where he was swimming, and was then requested to pass the dead bird to the hunter. I don't think said tourists will be returning this year, and his friends are also unlikely to be visiting.

One aspect of responsibility is recognising your target. Locally, "responsible individuals" seem totally incompetent at bird recognition, as it is documented that they shoot down everything that flies without any discrimination.

Despite Mr Vella's statement to the contrary, I do not find the hunting federation's claim to include "conservation" as part of their title amusing at all. I can assure him that I do have some idea both of bird migration patterns and why there are very few resident species on the islands. I was able to see birds in Egypt because of their migration patterns and also because they are not subjected to a continuous wall of lead shot. For instance, it was reported in your pages that every breeding bird was gunned off the cliffs of Gozo last year, with not a single fledgling escaping. With a record like this, claims to be conservationists are a sick joke.

Mr Vella suggests twice that better law enforcement is the answer to correspondents' complaints. However, from examples like those above it is clear that many hunters rely on the poor and worsening standards of enforcement to break the law with impunity. His reasoning is perverted and convoluted. Responsible individuals keep within the law, and do not set out to break it because there is little risk of being caught.

Mr Vella invited me to criticise the BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation). With pleasure! The BASC publishes several articles on its conservation efforts. However, the total expenditure amounts to only a few pounds per member, and they get grants for some of the work. They make no secret whatsoever of the fact that their conservation efforts are aimed at ensuring an adequate supply of birds and animals that can be shot. They do just enough to have some ammunition with which to target criticisms such as those levelled at the hunting (and conservation?) federation.

I challenge the federation to publish in The Times the projects, then hours and expenditure that they have incurred for conservation purposes within the islands, and compare this to the hours and expenditure spent shooting. I suspect that the ratio will reflect no credit whatsoever. Put up or shut up.