Two Gozitan men returning from an organised hunting trip to Romania attempted to smuggle into Malta two Ferruginous ducks, a highly protected species in the EU.
Law enforcement authorities pursued a tip-off last Tuesday that the two men would be smuggling the birds into the country and allegedly caught each of them with a smuggled bird, according to officials.
The ducks are considered vulnerable in Europe and were the focus of a four-year EU funded project worth over €1.3 million to protect the species’ habitat in key sites in Romania and Bulgaria.
The populations in Romania (5,500-6,500 breeding pairs) and Bulgaria (about 230 breeding pairs) are considered to be of international importance, especially in the context of the overall trend of the declining number of pairs.
The species is listed on Annex I of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and protected by at least two other international conventions as well as CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
This is not the first time hunters have been caught attempting to smuggle protected birds into the country following organised hunting trips abroad.
In November last year, three men returning from Romania were also apprehended at the airport after being found in possession of 45 dead birds including 12 protected specimens.
Last February, the luggage of another individual returning from Romania was held by customs officials for further investigations after it was found to contain several dead birds.
Later that month, another suspected smuggler was caught trying to bring 50 dead protected birds into the country following a hunting trip to Azerbaijan.
Last July, a 37-year-old was stopped at the airport and found to be carrying 411 protected bird skins from Argentina.
The ongoing investigation into the case led to the discovery of about 575 specimens from five continents at his home in Mġarr.
Law enforcement authorities told Times of Malta those caught are just the tip of the iceberg. They are aware of large collections of stuffed protected birds still held in Maltese households.
Birdlife executive director Steve Micklewright last week criticised the government proposal for the “voluntary declaration of protected bird specimens” slamming it as nothing more than an amnesty for hunters to be able to keep the birds they had illegally killed for a small administrative fine.