Careful monitoring has unveiled massive illegal night trapping of Golden Plovers and yet the police are refusing to act, the of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) said today.
It said its teams reported 14 cases of illegal night trapping to the police headquarters since November but did not observe any direct action.
“The problem is that the ALE, who normally deal with trapping cases, are only very rarely on duty during the night and the local police feel that they are not responsible ”, CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows said.
Two trapping sites in Siggiewi and Santa Lucija were reported by CABS on two different nights but the police officers on the phone continuously explained that they were understaffed or under-equipped to tackle them, CABS said.
On several occasions the police also claimed that it was not their job to enforce trapping regulations and in one case, on 30 November the officer on the phone told the volunteers that they had instructions not to go (to the site).
One trapping site in Delimara was reported to the police on the 13, 15, 18 and 30 November but in all four nights the police did either not attend or the officers on the phone said that they were instructed not to go on site.
In three cases the officers of the district police told the volunteers that they would inform the ALE in the next morning but could do nothing else.
There was only one case where charges were issued after ALE officers visited a site reported by CABS in the previous night. It is understood that the trapper will be charged with the use of illegal Lapwing decoys.
“What we have observed is close to anarchy. Plovers are trapped illegally every night and in every part of the island. Most trappers use electronic bird callers marking loud and blatantly the areas where illegal trapping takes places with impunity. Although it would be easy for the police to apprehend the culprits or at least dismantle the nets and switch off the callers, the district police either do not come at all or decline to do something”, Ms. Burrows said.
CABS also said that it had reported this situation to the WBRU (Wild Birds Unit) weeks ago. In its reply the unit informed CABS that permanent night operations of the ALE werenot feasible due to costs and logistics involved.
"This is in stark contrast to the governments statement that outside the allowed trapping hours “at least two Police officers or marshals shall also be on duty”
“Based on our observations it can be estimated that a high 3-figure number of plovers has already been caught illegally in the nights since November. If one adds this to the birds which have been legally caught during the daytime the quota is exceeded. We therefore urge the government to close the season for Golden Plovers with immediate effect”, CABS president Heinz Schwarze said.
He also said that a detailed report about the lack of enforcement would be sent to the European Commission.