Spring hunting ended abruptly

The spring hunting season was brought to an abrupt end yesterday after the government decided to put its foot down on illegal hunting.

Trapping, however, is expected to continue until May 20 - the day when the hunting season was also meant to end.

The government said in a statement issued in the evening that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had announced the decision after several repeat incidents of shooting on protected birds on Wednesday.

"Hunters had been warned when the season was declared open that they should follow the rules as no abuse would be tolerated," the government said, adding that abuse undermined its work to safeguard the hunting tradition on the island.

Earlier in the afternoon, Environment Minister George Pullicino said when replying to a journalist's question in Mellieha that he had met Dr Gonzi to urgently discuss the matter after the police had reported several incidents where protected bird species were shot. He said a legal notice would be published within hours.

The Times has learnt that the police are known to have made a number of arrests after hunters were allegedly caught shooting at protected birds on being alerted by birdwatchers.

Mr Pullicino said illegal hunting was the hunters' worst enemy, adding that the government had repeatedly warned that hunting in spring was permitted only on turtle dove and quail and that hunting was permitted from specific areas.

The minister said the government would "wait and see" when asked if the decision would have any bearing on next year's spring hunting season. Injured or dead protected birds have been reported from various sources in several areas around Malta and Gozo since the hunting season started on April 10.

Besides reaching the police, reports of injured or dead birds have been pouring into the offices of BirdLife Malta, which has been lobbying the government and the European Union to see an end to spring hunting on the island.

In reaction to the surprise announcement yesterday, BirdLife Malta president Joseph Mangion acknowledged that this was a departure from the previously entrenched position of the government on spring hunting.

"This is a very positive decision that will benefit people, Malta's international image and wild bird conservation both in Malta and abroad," Mr Mangion said.

BirdLife said that on Wednesday, birdwatchers had seen hundreds of honey buzzards flying in the vicinity of Zurrieq.

After 6.30 p.m., about 150 of them flew in towards the centre of the island to roost and spend the night before continuing their long journey to their European breeding grounds. Birdwatchers saw hunters shooting at the birds particularly in the Handaq area other locations in the south and alerted the police.

The NGO said it had frequently advised the government that continuing to allow spring hunting could not be justified before the European Commission, nor could it be strictly policed, one of the problems being that it opened the door to the shooting of protected birds.

The EU Birds Directive does not allow hunting in spring and this in order to protect wild birds before they are about to reproduce.

"We are pleased to see that the government has realised the error of the course they were pursuing in allowing spring hunting, which is illegal in the rest of the European Union. We sincerely hope this will be the end of spring hunting and trapping in Malta," Mr Mangion added.

Efforts to contact a spokesman for the hunters' federation were unsuccessful. However, secretary Lino Farrugia told state television the federation would be studying the situation to establish whether the government was empowered to take such a course of action. It was not right that the majority should suffer because of a few, he was quoted as saying.

Police sources said that last night Police Commissioner John Rizzo issued a circular informing all police officers that the shooting season was closed and that they were to ensure that no illegal hunting took place.