Sunday, 7th September 2008
186 illegal hunting reports in four days
One of the injured Night Herons.
There has been a significant increase in illegal hunting this year compared with 2007, according to Birdlife Malta, which has criticised the police for failing to enforce the hunting laws.
Birdlife called upon the government and the police to take "immediate action" after the ornithological organisation recorded 186 incidences of illegal hunting in the first four days of the hunting season.
Birdlife conservation manager Andre Raine is clearly upset over the state of affairs: "On Monday, I observed two hunters shooting within the Salina bird sanctuary at 5.30 p.m. At the same time, Qawra police station failed to respond to our reports regarding the incident. If hunters feel they can blatantly hunt in broad daylight within a bird sanctuary in a residential area, then one cannot claim that there is any serious enforcement to stop illegal hunting."
Birdlife was receiving protected birds with shotgun wounds before the hunting season officially opened on September 1. Over the past three days, members of the public have delivered three Night Herons, one Grey Heron and one Collared Dove to the NGO, all of which had been shot. This means a total of nine protected birds with shotgun wounds have been reported to Birdlife in the past fortnight.
In one instance, according to Birdlife, an Osprey was photographed flying low over the Buskett area and out towards Girgenti, where it was shot at by least three hunters. The injured Osprey was photographed while flying back over Buskett, with a broken leg and blood on its chest, by a birdwatcher and photographer Chris Cachia Zammit.
Mr Cachia Zammit said: "I saw the bird flying low past me and being shot at over and over again. When I next photographed the bird it was badly injured and losing height. I don't think it will survive with such extensive injuries."
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Comments
And game birds are eaten, Monica. We don't wear furs here!
You have been trying to tarnish my reputation for far too long. Do my comments hit home so much?! Be careful, as through one's actions, certain adjectives addressed to others might rebound to the individual.
Quoting me out of context is reflecting quite badly on you. I urge you to read my comment again in order to realise that I defend LAW-ABIDING hunters and even urged the authorities to bring law-breakers to justice.
SHAME ON YOU, SIR!!!
Ms. Monica Gale, are you aware of all the hunting taking place in your adoptive country of Canada? Should I also mention the clubbing of young seals?!
The recent increase in comments by foreigners makes one realise that the local anti-hunting lobby are again requesting their help - maybe similar to when they sent emails requesting foreigners to participate in this newspaper's online poll regards hunting!
I know and understand that its their latest tactic to try and discredit birdlife and whoever finds these birds, but deep down they know its true. If they are really hunters and do go out in the field and talk with other hunters they know that these illegal activities do take place.
And on occasions they actually know who these poachers are. So why do you keep on insisting on this ridiculous tactic. Most of the hunters I know are simply sick by the presence of these thugs and often violent persons who carry out these illegalities. Its very difficult for these persons to be caught redhanded, they are not stupid. So I urge all other hunters to do their part.
Regarding the injured birds. Whenever a bird is shot at but isnt killed does not mean it wasnt hit. Generally an injured bird will keep on flying for a short distance and drops somewhere often dying a slow death, depending on the injuries.
well even the news about the annual slaughter of baby seals in Canada has reached Malta. so one should even be ashamed of being canadian?
it seems its not only hunters who suffer from amnesia
I couldn't agree more. Its amazing how people blessed with the ability to shoot a dot out of the sky never see anything illegal happening under their noses ? Amnaesia, perhaps ? or maybe the low autumn sun temporarily blinds them.
The 'Legal' hunters continually whinge about being unfairly tarred with the same brush as the rogue ones, but what are they and their leaders actually doing to bring the culprits to justice. (assuming they know them. of course). It's easy for these 'Legal' hunters to distance themselves from their unlawful brethren in these pages, but talk is cheap and unless responsible hunters take steps to erradicate this problem then their 'sport' deserves to go the way of bear bating and other 'traditional pastimes'. Show some backbone, we have enough jellyfish !
As you are women, and few Maltese women are committing abortion in our EU counterparts, I don't call all women murderers, hence when abortion will be introduced and made legally you don't really have to be ashamed of anymore, because such atrocity is committed in EU and around that globe.
Yes you should also be ashamed of being Maltese, because we invaded other countries and killed thousands of innocent people including women and children.
The next time the Times will bring a picture of an Iraqi child thorn in pieces by one of the EU members, then I would like to hear your comments. Shame on all those Maltese hypocrites.
If Mr Cachia Zammit is really willing to reduce illegal hunting, he would have better photographed the three poachers not the bird. He would have got credits from both Birdlife and the Legal Hunters!
And what really annoys me is that there are thousands of hunters which they didn't even shot their gun yet because there's absolutely nothing.
Mr. Cachia Zammit, is your picture, as the same pictures downloaded from other web sites?
I've been watching this debate for years now and it never changes. The anti hunting lobby goes on about illegal hunting and the legal hunters say they are exaggerating. I just can't see the difference between so called legal and illegal hunting apart from the fact that a hunter is considered legal until such times as he or she is caught killing a protected species at which point they become illegal.
Now I myself have seen hunters walking through fields with strings of little birds hanging from their belts. I don't know what these birds were but they were similar in size to a British sparrow. What sport is there in blasting birds like this from the sky? Do they eat them or just brag to their buddies about how many they got before dumping them in the bin?
It is obvious that those people who are hunting legally know that illegal hunting is happening and probably know a lot of the people responsible. Therefore it is up to them to monitor what is happening and collectively put an end to it for their own sakes.
They want to get back at the bird lovers and what better way to do it than to slaughter as many birds as they can?
What do you mean by "hunters ... will defend their interests at all costs"
Are you suggesting that they will resort to violence?
Even more reason to take the guns out of their hands now.
Do any of the hunters agree with Sylvana or has she just gone off on one of her vitriolic rants again.
Who is behaving like a child? The words Pot Kettle and Black spring to mind.
To me the whole thing is daft, and is similar to hunting, shooting and trapping in the parks of London - which wasmaybe reasonable 200 years ago, but in this day and age is just not on.
"I would like to condone any type of illegality be it hunting or whatever"
Error of the subconscious or Freudian slip? ;-)
Condone or condemn "any type of illegality be it hunting or whatever" ???
First of all I would like to condone any type of illegality be it hunting or whatever, but hey Franco, dream on.......you will not be here to see your dream come true!!
One rogue hunter does more harm than 1000 law abiding ones.
It is your prerogative to believe whoever you want. Likewise, it is my prerogative to believe that BirdLife are exagerrating.
Believing BirdLife so much, what do you have to say about the millions of birds which had been quoted by them?!
Or are Birdlife testing the water again, to try and get yet another collective ban or measure imposed on the hunting community, the majority of which have nothing to do with it?
Look at that picture. I am sure you love looking at those dull eyes. Dead. With what right do you kill it? A political right?
Listen to that Mr Cachia Zammit - if that is not proof, what do we need, next?
May the day dawn when there will be no more hunting.
If there is some illegal hunting, I urge the authorities to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice. However, the many law-abiding hunters' interests have to be safeguarded. These hunters are practising their traditional pastime in the parameters of the law. The hatred being shown towards these law-abiding hunters places the anti-hunting lobby in a much worse light than the law-breakers themselves. Shame on them!
BirdLife and Co must ACCEPT that many Maltese citizens respect law-abiding hunters and will defend their interests at all costs. Trying to tarnish their reputation with exagerrations and placing Law-Abiding Hunters in the same basket with law-breakers is disrespectful indeed.
I wish all law-abiding hunters a most enjoyable hunting season!
You never fail to amuse us!!! You have become so pathetic. Year in year out, within a week of the opening of hunting season, you come out with these stories of illegal hunting. In today's day and age, technology gives us all the possibility to record such instances and pass them on to the Authorities. So why don't you do that? Why do you keep showing the same old pictures??
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that there is no illegal hunting in Malta, however, I am sure that it is nowhere near the "186 illegal hunting reports in four days" that you are stating.