BirdLife Malta said today that revocation of the 3pm curfew on Autumn season hunting was a case of 'hunters' delights at the raptors' plight'.
The society said amendments to Malta’s bird conservation laws were another move by the government to appease the hunting lobby at the expense of rare and protected birds of prey. The amendments, enacted earlier in July permanently set the dates of the autumn hunting season and revoked the 3pm curfew. They were confirmed when the Autumn season dates were announced on Monday.
"Since 2007, between the 15th September and 30th September, a 3pm curfew had been enforced to specifically protect migrating birds of prey as they came in to roost. Having completed their breeding season in Europe, birds of prey typically arrive in their masses during this period as they make their way south to winter in Africa. Birds arriving late during the day scour the Maltese countryside flying low in search of suitable roosting sites, making them easy targets," BirdLife said.
"In 2013, this curfew was moved by four hours to 7pm despite opposition raised by BirdLife Malta over the inefficacy of the measure. A scientific study carried out at Buskett in 1998, had shown that the majority of birds of prey (Honey Buzzard and Marsh Harrier) roost well before 7pm, with birds settling into vegetation as early as 3pm. The results of this study were the reason for a curfew from 3pm onwards, with the aim of providing some safety to these birds from illegal hunting."
BirdLife said its Raptor Camp in 2013 had recorded 54.5% of shooting at protected species occurring after 3pm.
"The government had claimed that in 2013 there was a reduction in cases after 3pm and no cases were prosecuted by police for illegal hunting after 7pm. Reacting to Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes’s statement that “2013 autumn enforcement statistics showed that enforcement measures have worked”, BirdLife’s Conservation Manager Nicholas Barbara said.
“The fact that police did not convict anyone of illegal hunting after 7pm does not mean that illegal hunting did not occur - it just highlights the burden placed on the police to enforce a curfew in the dark.”
BirdLife Malta recalled that it had also criticised the way in which the government had permanently removed the 3pm curfew and fixed it at 7pm. This was not recommended by Ornis but had been done on the recommendation of the government’s Wild Birds Regulation Unit, whose representative sits on the same Committee.
“We now have a situation where the unit’s representative takes matters ahead to government totally bypassing the Ornis Committee, making the purpose of this Committee increasingly pointless,” BirdLife said.
It said it would this year be organising its annual Raptor Camp again, focussing on the peak migration of birds of prey. The camp involves the participation of volunteers who seek to assist enforcement authorities in tackling the illegal targeting of birds of prey.