The reclassification of turtle doves as a vulnerable species in the latest European Red List of Birds will not affect the government’s approach to spring hunting, according to the Parliamentary Secretariat for Animal Rights.

A spokesman for the secretariat told Times of Malta yesterday that, in accordance with the regulations governing the opening of the spring hunting season, “the government shall be taking full account of all available scientific data, including the data presented in this most recently published report.

“Since such latest scientific information is always considered prior to the taking of any decision concerning the opening of any spring hunting season for turtle dove and quail, there is no change in the government’s approach.”

Turtle doves, previously considered a species of ‘least concern’, have now been declared as ‘vulnerable’ in view of population declines of 30 to 49 per cent across Europe in the last 16 years, or three generations.

Read more on Times of Malta.

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