Fifty-two illegally imported juvenile songbirds were confiscated in Gozo but hundreds more are believed to be on the market because of the lack of rigorous checks by government officials.
The police received a tip-off of two locations where protected songbirds wearing false rings were being sold. They raided both places accompanied by officials from the Wild Birds Regulations Unit.
The 52 protected goldfinches were not wearing closed rings, indicating they were caught in the wild.
Closed rings are meant to indicate birds that are captive-bred. Yet, when protected birds are imported illegally these are often fitted with closed rings to avoid detection by the authorities.
The confiscated birds were among hundreds of others wearing rings. None of the protected songbirds wearing the suspected false rings were confiscated because the checks were not rigorous enough, according to sources.
They insisted these birds are still being sold and the rings are obviously too wide.
Inspections require that the ring on each bird is inspected according to international standards that dictate which rings should be fitted on different species.
Such inspection is carried out by measuring the inner diameter of each ring and checking its compatibility with standards.
This was not done in this raid, sources stressed. The WBRU officials checked the size of the ring only by inspecting whether it could be removed from the birds’ legs. If not, they considered it as compliant with local laws.
Moreover, the officials who carried out this inspection in Gozo did not check each bird but only took samples. Two experienced inspectors recently left the WBRU.
The fact that hundreds of finches not confiscated were juvenile continues to fuel suspicion that the birds wearing rings were also illegally imported since they do not breed in Malta.
The WBRU denied it had cut corners, saying its officials used “a standard methodology for the measurement of rings and their assessment in terms of internationally recognised sizes”. The unit said the rings were examined for their “compliance with the definition” established in local laws.
A pet shop was among those from where the birds were being sold. The shop is one of the few in Gozo that accepts hunters’ federation membership renewals. The owner has a record of illegalities and convictions, including the importation and sale of finches.
Charges filed against him in court in May 2013 show he was accused of causing unnecessary suffering to birds and rabbits after he left them in a filthy, confined space, without food or water.
Last March, more than 400 protected finches were smuggled into the country from Sicily by an Italian man on board the catamaran.
Last October, over 1,300 songbirds were smuggled into the country over three weeks, reflecting the illegal trade of protected birds, which many believe is spurred by the government’s decision to reintroduce finch trapping. Law enforcement officers told the Times of Malta the protected birds seized were just the tip of the iceberg.
Malta has received a second warning from the Commission on its decision to reopen finch trapping. Yet, the government has shown no signs of backtracking on its intention to reopen another season next autumn.