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Trappers ‘caught in the act’

The Committee Against Bird Slaughter said it had caught four trappers in the illegal act in the space of a week as part of its Operation Safe Passage.

The trappers were filmed in separate incidents and subsequent police controls saw several large trap nets as well as nine live and two artificial bird decoys being seized as evidence.

The open season for hunting and trapping of quail and turtle dove started on September 1. Hunting is banned in the afternoons.

The first trapper was caught in St Thomas’ Bay attempting to attract waders using an illegal bird caller, CABS said. The police were informed and when they went on site they found a 40-metre trapping net. Legal proceedings against the trapper have now begun, the organisation said.

CABS conservationists also found a trapping site near Baħrija in which a trapper was attempting to catch protected dotterel using plastic decoys as well as an electronic device playing the bird’s calls. Footage of the man was passed on to the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit, which searched the site and seized numerous items as evidence.

In another incident, the police ended up in a chase after a man who had been filmed for hours by CABS took off as they approached him at a site near Żurrieq. Five short-toed larks and a red-throated pipit were found, all of which were seized and later released into the wild.

Gozo was the site of another incident, in which a trapper was filmed catching waders over a number of hours. Police officers caught him still in his hut and seized his nets as well as three live dotterel, CABS said.

It added that it had found several shot birds, including a kestrel and a nightjar. Its volunteers also witnessed two honey buzzards and a wader being shot dead south of Girgenti valley.

BirdLife Malta said it witnessed a honey buzzard being shot in Buskett bird sanctuary – one of Malta’s biggest — on Thursday evening after the 3 p.m. hunting ban had passed.

The incident was reported to the police who arrived shortly afterwards and searched the area but they could not find the hunter.

BirdLife added that many raptors were seen coming in to Malta on Thursday evening, some of which were met with gunfire. Widespread illegal shooting in Miżieb, Dingli, Ġebel Ciantar, Qawra, Nadur and Delimara was recorded by the conservation organisation the following morning.

Volunteers from 10 countries have joined BirdLife and CABS conservation camps and will be here until next Sunday seeking to curb illegal bird shooting and trapping. CABS is an international charitable organisation based in Germany.

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Edward Camilleri

Sep 20th 2010, 21:36

Give me a case where CABS/BLM have trespassed on private land. I can give you several, where I was threatened by hunters on a) public land, and b) private land owned by our family. Without listing the countless public footpaths which were painted with RTO signs.

By attacking CABS/BLM in this article you are siding with the poachers!

Johnny Xerri

Sep 20th 2010, 21:19

well using your yard stick.....survey an area in which 3 hunters do not break the law and extrapolate this to other areas.

as you say an incident took place in a bird sanctuary after the 3pm ban. Just goes to show that bans do not work against poachers but only against hunters....

What will be your next suggestion to stop poaching....jail all hunters irrespective of their clean police record...confiscate (steal) their shotguns....jail all clay pigeon shooters just in case they poach....dream on, poaching will one day stop but lucky for us hunting can never be ban.

Joseph Camilleri

Sep 20th 2010, 22:54

Mike Fitzgibbons why don't you go and see what happens in your own country and stop interfering with us?

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