BirdLife Malta said today that it has urged the Police Commissioner to ensure the safety of the international and Maltese birdwatchers who are taking part in a Raptor Camp.

BirdLife Malta President Joseph Mangion said protection had been requested in view of statements by the leaders of the hunters' federation which, he said, had been threatening.

BirdLife said that only yesterday, a group of birdwatchers at Girgenti were approached by a group of more than 10 hunters and one of them warned the Raptor Camp team leader not to come back the next morning. The police who came to the spot shortly after birdwatchers called, prevented the situation from escalating any further.

In its letter sent to the Police Commissioner last Thursday, BirdLife Malta claimed the FKNK's public statements violated the Criminal Code and incited xenophobic sentiments.

One of the prominent names who will join BirdLife's Raptor Camp is the Italian Conservationist Anna Giordano who won the winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize (1) in 1998 for her conservation work to protect birds of prey from poachers in Sicily. Among other Raptor Camp participants there are biologists, professional ornithologists, a wildlife conservationist, a veterinary who works on Raptors in a Spanish rehabilitation centre in Albacete and a publisher who last year won the birding book of the year by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), one of the leading wild bird research institutions in Europe.

Mr Mangion asked why FKNK was so uncomfortable with the presence of these prominent conservationists. "If FKNK is really against illegal hunting then they should be happy to report poachers who shoot at protected species. Hunters who claim that they obey the law are also guilty if they the hide illegal hunting that they witness. FKNK should reveal how many times they reported an illegal activity to the police so far and whether they have ever cancelled memberships within their federation for hunters who were convicted of breaching the law." he concluded.