Tuesday, 15th April 2008 - 13:31CET
BirdLife complains of 'mayhem and anarchy' in the Maltese countryside
Mayhem and anarchy are reigning in the Maltese countryside as poachers take the law into their hands and open fire on migrating birds, BirdLife Malta claimed this afternoon.
"As BirdLife Malta’s Spring Watch Camp kicked off on Sunday so did the rampant illegal shooting as poachers invaded the countryside opening fire at migrating birds since Monday morning," the society said.
It said Spring Watch volunteers were also targeted by individuals with threats and insults pouring onto them.
"One of the teams in Delimara on Monday afternoon was also surrounded by aggressive individuals and ordered to leave the area although the team was on public land."
André Raine, BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager and Spring Watch Camp Coordinator said Monday morning was particularly bad for illegal hunting activity.
“So far over the last two days our teams in different locations have counted more than 1,050 shots. Delimara was a particularly bad area, with 486 shots counted over a four hour period on Monday morning alone. These came from numerous individuals shooting throughout the peninsula. Our observation teams have shown that this is not simply a handful of poachers breaking the law, but rather numerous individuals actively shooting in the countryside as if this is simply another open season.”
He asked how the government could claim that it could control spring hunting when it had absolutely no control over illegal hunting.
He said illegal shooting was less on Tuesday morning compared to the previous day as the bird migration was much slower due to the change in weather conditions.
BirdLife said that over the last two days its teams had witnessed birds flying by with visible injuries, including Turtle Doves (Gamiem) and Night Herons (Kwakk), as well as a Common Kestrel (Spanjulett) being shot down in Wardija in front of the birdwatchers’ very eyes.
“Even though the Police are responding to our calls very quickly they are too short-staffed to have a serious impact on this level of criminality.”
BirdLife explained that shooting was in fact stopping as soon as the poachers saw the police cars approaching, but would resume again as soon as the police left the area.
Markus Nipkow, Ornithology and Bird Conservation officer for NABU (BirdLife Germany) who is taking part in the Spring Watch Camp said: “Our conservation work in Germany will not succeed if migratory birds are slaughtered over the Maltese islands, as it is evident that the conservation of our common natural heritage lies beyond national borders. We are aware that an overwhelming majority in Malta is against spring hunting but we fail to understand why the Maltese government is reluctant to put an end to this unsustainable practice.”
BirdLife said it had also been receiving numerous reports of illegal shooting from members of the public throughout the Maltese islands.
Joseph Mangion, President of BirdLife Malta, said that what was being witnessed was not surprising when one recalled statements of the hunters' association administration that targeted the Spring Watch attendees even before they arrived in Malta.
“Why is the FKNK administration so scared of peaceful, non-violent birdwatchers who are here to witness bird migration and report illegal activity? One would expect them to sit with us and report illegal activities too if they genuinely are against illegal hunting. It is about time that this government acknowledges this fact.”
He appealed to the government to immediately take all the necessary actions to bring back law and order in the countryside.
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Comments
Surely there must be another name for it. Is sitting in a field and shooting birds out of the sky really "the hunt"? Where is the sport? This is just shooting at birds. No sport, no hunt, just the dumb luck (not for the bird) of having a bird pass over head. Is there skill involved? Yes, I imagine so, aiming straight.
I try to find the logic and I can only determine that for some people, killing an animal is more satisfying shooting the bulls eye out of a paper target.
My only identical comparison is that of a malicious kid stepping on snails for the fun of it. However in his case, the kid would have to hunt for snails, not wait for them to pass by!!
Well done all you "hunters". Every try paint balling? Might be a fun alternative.
What if I took my four and two year old boys to Kennedy grove to play but instead they found a loaded shotgun and hurt or killed themselves.
Who would be to blame, me for taking my kids for some play time in a nearby park or the unlucky hunter that was found out with a loaded hidden shotgun that he leave behind in The park so no one sees him going in and out of the park?????
Disgusting, I condemn all hunters, you have to be barbaric to be able to kill innocent beings!!!
One day they report a peaceful stroll in the country side to supposedly document the bird migration. Lo and behold just on the next day they report "mayhem and anarchy". Fretting to issue too many press releases in a bid to thwart the general public may hopefully just be your own undoing!
Below is the website to see the guide for hunters for the state of Michigan. Virtually no illegal hunting takes place, hunters spend large amounts of cash preserving large areas of habitat, they turn in hunters who hunt illegally and also some will turn themselves in when they make a mistake. Hunters would laugh right out of a room a hunter who hit, say, a flamingo when they were trying for a dove (not that there are flamingos in Michigan).
No shooting permitted within 137 meters of an occupied structure of any kind, including animal pens.
The Euro is doing great relative to the dollar--come visit the US and do some (highly regulated) hunting. The Dakotas are noted for their bird hunting.
Here's the website:
www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/2007_Mi_Hunt_Guide_205304_7.pdf
We want what we were PROMISED nothing more!!!!
Tolga Temuge in Birdlife's illegal hunting report states"“Illegal hunting and trapping is a serious and widespread problem in Malta. But not only here. There were recently reports about illegal hunting in the UK, GERMANY and Cyprus. But maybe Malta is the worst example”.
Mr. Nipkow WHO WATCHES ILLEGAL HUNTING IN GERMANY WHILST YOU ENJOY THE MALTESE SUNSHINE.
Again, it is not the FKNK's responsibility to curb illegal hunting, but if it is capable of self-regulation it may avoid the authorities' coming to the logical conclusion that the only way to control illegal hunting is to ban hunting altogether.
After all, its pretty clear that last year's premature closure of the spring hunting season and this year's unlikely opening are a step in this direction. As far as I have understood the the approach of those in favour of a ban on spring hunting, most of the killing of protected species happens under cover of legal spring hunting, so if you ban the latter, you avoid the former. The next step is to conclude that no hunting at all means no illegal hunting either.
The hunters have only themselves to blame for this situation and whining about broken pledges is pretty much a case of crying over spilt milk. The vast number of reports of illegal hunting show that it is far more than an irresponsible minority that is hunting illegally and this is clearly unsustainable.
Also, whilst on the subject of sustainability, comparisons with other nations such as the USA are irrelevant. Our population density is 40 times greater, so even if you assume similar amounts of wildlife per km squared and similar percentages of population who hunt, the pressure on our wildlife is already 40 times greater. When you consider that we probably have less wildlife and more hunters this ratio will probably increase drastically.
Its high time we banned hunting completely. Traditions are not necessarily a good thing, (female circumcision is also a tradition) and having done things that way in the past is not a guarantee that they are a good idea going forward.
The worst thing is he paid for to hunt and he cannot go...he owns a land and cannot go there so no one can say that my father insulted him...what do you think you are...you enter in my property and you want that he doesn't tell you to go out...nini nini.
If someone do such a thing just give me your address so I will come on your sofa at your home.
We have a section of the hunting community that is trying to break the law. Society has to react. The best economic solution to this problem is for the authorities to regulate further by creating legal entities represented by the hunters themselves having a property (a kind of hunters' club for each district, where shotguns are to be kept during the closed seasons). Thus we will avoid spending money on the overworked ALE members trying in a crude and inefficient way controlling the irresponsible hunters.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/clinton-slams-o.html
Perhaps Maltese hunters may wish to make a google search about hunting around the world, to amuse themselves while waiting for the ECJ decision. Perhaps they could cut or copy and paste the documentation they find and send it to the ECJ for their consideration. Why does not the ECJ occupy itself with human illegal migration issues instead of bird migration? Does it have nothing better to do? Is Malta the only country in the world where hunting of any shape or form takes place?
This was the first time in Malta when legally licensed hunters could not shoot at their favourite target (the Turtle Dove) legally and that is not easy.
It is like asking local fishermen not to fish out LAMPUKI come September.
The delay by the ECJ may be interpreted as meaning the issue is not important o but never-the-less the Maltese Government is awaiting a pending decision before opening the season. Nobody should take the law in their hands so any infringements must be uncovered, investigated and punished. Respectable hunters should respect laws and their fellow friends who rightly decided to stay at home, continue on their work or decided to go on their hunting grounds just to watch in passion.
Obviously, they will be telling us that that's not shotgun but scaring the birds away.
To which, I say: Sure!
So, do hunters really need an official blessing in order to shoot those birds out of the sky?
Shame!