BirdLife condemns 'attempt to cover up' illegal hunting activities

BirdLife Malta has condemned St Hubert Hunters' (KSU) "attempt to cover up illegal hunting activities by discrediting the conservation organisation's reports".

In a statement, BirdLife said it was the hunters who needed to provide irrefutable evidence that all 5,600 hunters licensed to kill this spring were honestly reporting their catch.

Yesterday, KSU questioned reports of illegal hunting published by BirdLife in recent days.

Secretary Mark Mifsud Bonnici said the few isolated cases allegedly witnessed by BirdLife, lacked official confirmation and were being directed solely to undermine police efforts at enforcement.

He said the association demanded that all reports presented by BirdLife be either officially denied or witnessed by a police officer.

BirdLife Malta today said it had consistently backed up its reports with photo and video evidence, eyewitness accounts and police reports,

Executive director Paul Debono welcomed the KSU's call for police officers to accompany BirdLife Malta's Spring Watch camp teams saying this would result in a more efficient police response to catching poachers.

It would also provide additional safety to the organisation's teams. BirdLife said it already paid an off duty police officer to visit the teams, and engaged security officers for the teams' protection.

It said that yesterday, it filed a police report regarding an incident at the Red Tower in the Foresta 2000 site, where four volunteers were verbally abused for 40 minutes.

Mr Debono said it was ironic that the KSU felt that a handful of spring watch teams should be monitored at all times, while they were completely satisfied that 40 officers could strictly supervise 5,600 licensed hunters spread across Malta and Gozo.

BirdLife Malta asked KSU to provide evidence that all the licensed hunters were honestly reporting their catch.

"The number of birds shot is being measured through voluntary reporting by hunters in their carnet de chasse and the SMS they are supposed to send to Mepa every time a bird is killed.

"Every time a hunter fails to do this, the killing never happened. It is a convenient way for hunters to appear to stick to quota limits," BirdLife said.

It said that to divert attention from their own wrongdoing, KSU was throwing mud hoping some of it would stick.

"BirdLife Malta's track record speaks for itself, just as the hunting lobby's past actions reveal this tactic is not new," Mr Debono said.

The organisation reiterated its commitment to report illegal hunting activities witnessed by the spring watch camp teams in the countryside.