An unscheduled debate was held by the government’s consultative hunting body yesterday to address concerns over “unrealistic” figures that just four in 10 hunters shot a single bird last autumn.
Ornis committee sources said the issue was raised by board members because the data was far from the number of birds killed in previous years.
The data, published on Monday, is based on the Carnet de chasse, the official document hunters have to fill in every time they shoot a bird. It claimed hunters had only shot about 2,500 turtle doves and 1,700 quail.
The figures represent a huge drop over those for the 2013 season, when hunters bagged about 8,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quail.
The government’s Wild Birds Regulation Unit had said the catches were significantly lower than previous years because of poor migration and the season’s temporary closure between September 20 and October 11.
Meanwhile, another government report revealed yesterday that the number of illegalities recorded during the last autumn hunting season had also decreased significantly.
During the five-month season the authorities uncovered 106 offences, a third less than the 158 illegalities the previous year. This resulted in action being taken against some 83 hunters.
Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes said the results were the outcome of an increase in the penalties for offences, implemented in two stages over the past 16 months.
The results were the outcome of an increase in the penalties for offences
Doubling enforcement efforts on the ground also ensured that those who broke the law were apprehended and effectively prosecuted, he added.
Officers from the police Administrative Law Enforcement unit conducted about 16,500 field inspections during the last autumn season, double the number in the same period in 2013. More than 2,550 spot-checks were also carried out on individual hunters.
The ostensible reduction in hunting-related crime contrasts sharply with the hunting fraternity’s response to the 20-day temporary suspension of the season.
At that time, some 200 irate hunters had taken to the streets of Valletta to hold an unauthorised protest to lambast the decision.
The unruly mob hurled profanities at the government and pointed riffle cut-outs at the Presidential Palace before assaulting journalists.
Others later went to the popular bird watching site at Buskett, where around a dozen hunters violently attacked ornithologists, seriously injuring a picnicker and robbing an amateur photographer of thousands of euros in equipment.
The illegalities recorded by the authorities may have also left some stones unturned as data gathered by an NGO earlier this year showed violations were also commonplace, even during the temporary suspension.
In January, Times of Malta reported that as many as 120 illegalities had been logged by Birdlife, when no hunting was meant to be taking place whatsoever.