114 stuffed protected birds found in Gozo

I have to agree with Mr. Pulis. This issue is, and has always been, affecting people psychologically, even if we may not be prepared to acknowledge it. The negative social impact is clearly considerable. To condone and legalise the practice of shooting and trapping wild birds has always been an easy way out for the authorities. It had been pretty much a time bomb all along. Now we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. People are always going to suffer psychologically either way on both sides of the issue. Renewing licenses is akin to appeasing the devil. By devil I mean this accursed practice which, to my mind at least, is abominable. To see a beautiful wild bird with a damaged wing scurrying about in distress, and someone holding a high powered gun signalling a dog to go and fetch it, is simply sickening. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes, and seeing it once was enough. That's the sort of effect this activity has on those of us who love the wild life. On the other hand, what is the shooter going to do if the license were to be taken from him after all these years without trying to anticipate potential outcomes. Most are proud family men, and that makes it a very dismal situation. This is a very difficult piece of social science, and there is no easy way out for the Maltese government. Assistance from the EU is the only chance we've got. A single decision by itself coming from the ECJ is not going to help us much either way.

Mr. J. Farrugia - What is exactly beautiful?
Strolling in the countryside; being with your dog; eating birds; shooting; drawing blood?

Just because of one man all other reponsible and law abiding hunters have to pay, one has to reinforce the police and ale so that irresponsible hunters are caught and responsible hunters can keep on with their beautiful tradition

Mr. Andrew Gatt has suggested demolishing half the buildings in Malta. I fully agree that development has an adverse effect on bird populations. Another thing I suggest being reduced by half or more is street and sign lighting. This has been claimed by Bird Life themselves that it is deleterious. Why is such a fuss being made only on hunting. Why have Bird life not started an equal campaign against light pollution now that the migrating season is on?

It seems to me that there are two types of people here, hunters and poachers. Hunter’s slaughter birds legally, according to them, and poachers slaughter birds illegally. I would think that the 21-year-old Gozitan found in possession of 114 stuffed protected birds considers himself to be a hunter.

So am I right in assuming that a poacher is a hunter who has been caught hunting illegally?

Authority should revoke his license immediately,fine him and give him some jail time. In New York that's the lesson that you get.

Law abiding hunters should realise once and for all that their real enemy is not Birdlife or any other environmental group but irresponsible shooters.

One of the bird shooters' slogans is Ahjar kacca milli droga but a quick glance at the forum on their website reveals that most of them are suffering from what one can easily describe as withdrawal symptoms. They talk of anti depressant pills, despair, even suicide. This is very worrying for themselves and also for the country.

So the FKNK condemns illegal poaching and will continue to do so.

But what about LICENSED hunters who are are MEMBERS of the FKNK caught and convicted of illegal hunting I.E. poaching ?

I ask again; HOW MANY OF THESE HAVE BEEN EXPELLED FROM THE FKNK?

Hunting, originally was for food. Now it is only a bloody sport. The rarer the bird, the more they want to shoot it down for collection. We are being continuously deprived of all kinds of birds. You go abroad and you realise what we are missing in Malta. One should also realise all those lead pellets poisoning our fields and country side.There is no more room for hunting during the whole year.

Anything which is unlawful is to be identified and the perpetrators made responsible for their actions. The argument about timing is, at best, puerile. It appears that pro-hunters and other bigots that we have in this country have no further arguments to use in order to prove one thing: that bird-slaughtering for the sake of having stuffed animals in one's possessions, is rampant. This is far from the traditional culture of hunting for food, as the pro-hunters would have us believe. There is no way of trying to bring these people to see the light.

Lucky 21-year old (name and locality unknow - yet) BUT what matters most is that he is a Gozitan voter.

Mr Mallia, the FKNK has repeatedly gone on record to condemn illegal poaching. It can continue to do so till it's blue in the face.....but will this deter an unclicenced poacher? Non-members? Unlicensed firearms? OF COURSE NOT. Effective, fair and transparent enforcement is the problem. We hear about massacres, slaughter, illegal this and illegal that, and NOBODY is caught, NOBODY is charged, and the solution is to impose collective punishments, shortened seasons, no afternoon hunting etc. Perhaps you should be asking questions and demanding answers from Minister Pullicino, NOT law-abiding hunters. The fact that such incidents (although greatly diminished) still occur is a failure on the part of the responsible authorities. Law abiding hunters want poaching to stop. Law abiding hunters want to continue practising their hobby in peace and as promised by this Government.

One has to stick to the real issue. A criminal act, such as the one being reported here, is not even up for discussion because it is purely a matter for the police.
The real issue is whether the Maltese government should continue to renew gun and trabokki licenses. Many agree and many disagree, and that is why a national referendum is being called for from both sides. Without a resolution, this issue will continue to be a heavy national burden, both socially and economically.
The countryside can be restored, and it has to be restored because the outcome of a restoration would be rewarding for all. No Maltese should ever give up on this idea. The Maltese government has got to listen and to lobby hard with the EU both for financial and technical assistance.

Did anyone ever ban cars because of some irresponsible drivers who killed people through their reckless driving and selfish attitudes? Are fireworks banned because of illegal manufacturing? Statistics show that there are over 15000 licenses hunters; do some illegal practices justify banning a tradition?
This is the same as any other law; it’s broken from time to time. Illegal practices can only be reduced through enforcement. Hunters themselves have been asking for more enforcement and these are the results. Good work Police & ALE!

Dear Louis Borg,

this is one man, a poacher!!!!
How can you attack thousands of law abiding hunters by the actions of one or a few men??

Hunting for food can be considered justifiable, but I sit on my balcony and watch through binoculars, the relentless slaughter of small birds which is nothing more than target practice and especially as the victim is often never even collected. This is what hunting has become in Malta today. Hold a referendum for an outright ban of hunting and guns!

So Ms. Zarb is saying that she is surprised how these reports crop up when its hunting season (or should be).
Are you crying foul ? Are you implying that this is a frame up by the police ? What are you trying to imply by your statement ?

The upshot is, hunters are so in to saying that I am a good hunter and the other hunters are naughty that there is no more hunters around or put in another way, hunters are pointing at the next hunter...and the last hunter is pointing at sea. There is no such thing as a law abiding hunter. Speak to them personally and they will tell you that at a point or other in their life, they all broke the law in some way. having a gun in your hand does not make you responsible. But of course no hunter will admit such a thing in public. Like this report of the stuffed birds...its a fabrication isn;t it ?

Instead of the police concentrating on illegal hunting and trapping, making criminals out of honest and decent persons, why not concentrate on serious crimes like illegal immigration and drugs. Stop chasing windmills. Use the police force where there is the true necessity not following turkish orders.

Well said Mr Aquilina. Seems like hunters have got used too much on monopolising the public countryside for their own "recreation". They should realise that such reports only damages them. BTW will FKNK codemn this now?

Some people say that hunters deprive them from seeing birds!!!
Have these people ever seen a quail or a woodcock? (These are game birds that hide until flushed by dogs only inches away from their nose) - I doubt it!!

Poachers deprive us all of beautiful birds.
There is a distinction.
extremists are wrong - no matter which side they are on.

Mr Aquilina, the only way to restore the local environment "to what it once was" is to demolish half of the buildings in Malta and Gozo. Birds are just one facet of the environment as a whole - which is FAR MORE threatened by habitat loss, land degradation, development, pesticides, modern agricultural practices etc.

I perfectly agree with Sylvana Zarb Darmanin. Such reports start coming up when the hunting season is about to open.

If there are illegal hunters, the government should enforce the law. If one takes the example of the seat belts, there were penalties for those who did not fasten the seat belt when using cars on the roads. No one spoke of abolishing our cars from the road because some car users did not fasten the seat belt! The same should be done for hunting.

Why should law abiding hunters not practice there hobby for a few who do not abide by the laws?

Dear Sylvana, like the rest of Malta you have been taken for a ride. The documentation you hold is useless. `Judge us on what we achieve and on what we say`-Gonzi, does it jog your memory? Joseph Aquilina is right, a referendum on hunting is well overdue.

Why are people complaining abut the timing of such reports? So what if it coincides with the spring season? Do you believe we should be denied access to such incriminating reports after having already been denied enjoyment these birds?

THE LIVING PROOF THAT HUNTERS KEEP ON KILLING PROTECTED BIRDS AND NOT ONLY SRING HUNTING WHICH WILL BE BANNED BUT WINTER AS WELL
YOU DO NOT OBEY THE LAW AND HAVE PROVEN IT

Dear Sylvana Zarb Darmanin, why just hold a poll on timesofmalta.com, why not make it bigger and make a little referendum to see whether the Maltese want hunting to continue or not? All hunters forget one thing – the environment is not only yours but of all the Maltese. When you go and kill a bird you are preventing me from enjoying seeing that same bird flying. However maybe you feel that your enjoyment in hunting (killing) a bird is more important than my enjoyment in watching that same bird fly right! Personally I do not agree and believe hunting as we know it today is no longer needed. There are plenty of alternatives to hunting that would allow our environment to come back as it once was. As for the article itself I congratulate the police for the good work they have done. Indeed very good timing – or else who knows how much illegal hunting this person would have done now the season has begun!

Congratulations Mr Rizzo. Let us now hope that justice is properly done and the person does not get away with a silly fine. This would also protect the hunter from the poacher.

Mr Rizzo, congratulations on finding these birds, but why only hunters are being investigated. Why not the dvd sellers,why not drug pushers,why not alcohol sellers,why not cigarettes sellers etc etc etc.why are we painting hunters as the only people who are doing illegal things here in Malta

Once again!!!

PERFECT TIMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well done Sylvana and well said. Illegal hunting is condemned from all law abiding hunters.

It is true that the media did not gave it opinion on the promises made from Dr Fenech Adami and also by Dr Gonzi, which are note being respected this season.

Hope the hunting of issue will settle asap, as the season has begun and we can't wait any longer. Dr Gonzi please keep your promise. Hunters who vote for the EU, voted so because they where promised that their hobby will remain for ever.

It is surprising how reports like this start mushrooming up during this time when the hunting season is supposedly due to open.

I have in my possession an official document from the Ministry of the Home Affairs and the Environment dated 2003 whereby hunters were assured that the EU has accepted that Spring Hunting is to stand. I may readily fax a copy to The Times, maybe this will be published and furthermore decide to hold a Poll about it!!