In reply to Joseph Lia and Raymond Cordina (Parliamentary Petition On Hunting And Trapping, March 17), it seems that my original "emotional banalities" succeeded in rattling their FKNK cages. However, Mr Lia and Mr Cordina should understand that it is not the "thoughtless and illogical outbursts of ill-informed do-gooders" that will intimidate Malta's members of Parliament. If there is any intimidation in that quarter, it is more than likely to emanate from the intractable chauvinism of Malta's backwoods hunting and trapping lobby.

Messrs Lia and Cordina are correct when they assert that the EU acknowledges the right of its citizens to hunt in their respective countries, but what these two gentlemen fail to mention is that in most EU states, unlike Malta, stringent parameters are in place, and strict regard is paid to the sustainability of endangered species and their environments.

Concerning the contentious issue of hunting and trapping, Malta seems beset by a "double whammy" of its own making. On the one hand, the hunting and trapping fraternity appears to give scant credence either to responsible regulation or international public opprobrium; while on the other hand, there does seem to be lack of political will from either main party to establish a rigorous and effectively policed regulatory framework to halt the annual indiscriminate slaughter of indigenous and transient bird species in the killing fields of Malta.

Now, the correspondents did accuse me of being emotional in my criticism of hunting and trapping. I make no apology for that. How can any rational, sentient human being not be moved by the wanton extermination of so many thousands of harmless bird species. I should, through the columns of this newspaper, like to ask them what they feel as they shoot each hapless creature, and why they wish to kill so many, so indiscriminately?

You see, if hunting had some utilitarian purpose, then perhaps I and many others might begin to understand the need to trap and kill. For instance, do hunters actually eat what they kill ? After a tiring day out hunting, does the weary hunter return home to a tasty fricassee of fieldfares and finches; a delicious stroganoff of skylarks; perhaps a hearty buzzard bolognese; or even a tantalising linnet lasagne with a plate of peregrine pate for a starter?

If the wretched birds are not consumed, perhaps they are preserved [for scientific research, of course], stuffed and exhibited in lifelike scenarios, not only evidence of the hunters' heroic and intrepid skills, but keeping alive the esoteric arts of taxidermy, and preserving the beautiful plumages of endangered species for future generations. Perhaps some of the more flamboyant species are killed for their very plumages, the feathers fashioned into bizarre traditional costumes, used in arcane and primaeval hunting and trapping ceremonies since the dawn of time?

Sadly, I think not. Personally, I feel that the only reason for the shameless, indiscriminate slaughter of birds in the Maltese islands is the apparent pleasure that most hunters get from killing these harmless creatures. Put quite bluntly, it seems to be killing for killing's sake. And when all the killing is done, and most of the birds are no more?

Another extinct species.