Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Roderick Galdes has "resorted to ‘playing the man’ rather than addressing the real issue - the lack of political will to effectively enforce the law,” TV presenter, wildlife expert and naturalist Chris Packham told The Malta Independent in a reaction to Mr Galdes’ right of reply.
He went on to say that since he left Malta, BirdLife Malta have “seen a police officer in a hide with an illegal hunter and now further incompetence in regard to the police and WBRU handling of a case of illegal trapping of Turtle Doves discovered and documented by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter .”
“ Name calling won’t solve these problems - better law enforcement would , something Mr Galdes and the Maltese Government should prioritise immediately”.
Mr Packham had been previously charged for assaulting two trappers. He was acquitted by a Gozo court after a video of the incident was shown to Magistrate Joe Mifsud.
In an interview with The Malta Independent, Mr Packham then claimed that a number of protected birds held within an illegal enclosure mysteriously vanished after he reported the incident to the Gozitan police.
The naturalist also called out the Maltese government for showing “little political will” when it came to enforcing hunting regulations.
In a right of reply to The Malta Independent, Mr Galdes rejected the claims made by Mr Packham and accused the conservationist of staging a show for the cameras.
"If Mr Packham and his local associates believe that their self-serving publicity stunts help to raise public awareness to mobilise the society towards eradication of illegal killing of birds, they are grossly mistaken, as actions of this nature only serve to fuel division, polarisation and antagonism amongst stakeholders instrumental for the eradication of wildlife crime phenomenon.”
He also accused Mr Packham of misinforming the public and unjustly portraying the authorities as failing to act while they were carrying out their duties.
He went on to say that “the British ‘naturalist has also given his verdict on the legality of birds held in the aviaries, which specialised authorities were still trying to establish at that very time.”
The Parliamentary Secretary's statement also claimed that the alleged ‘illegal bird trap’ reported by Packham and BLM turned out to be an enclosure for holding domestic pigeons. The other reported ‘cage trap’ turned out to be an aviary holding several specimens of birds belonging to various species.
“But contrary to Chris Packham’s false assertion that the aviaries were ‘emptied’ before WBRU inspectors arrived, the Unit confirmed that all specimens originally reported were found in place and were thoroughly examined to establish legality of possession.”
Birdlife Malta Reaction
It was ironic, a Birdlife Malta statement read, that Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Roderick Galdes has finally broken his silence on the hunting and trapping issue by alleging that the incident involving TV Presenter and Naturalist Chris Packham was staged, rather than talk about the number of illegalities that were reported this spring.
According to the NGO's website, by 5 April, 15 protected birds had been shot during the spring hunting season.
In response to the Parliamentary Secretary's reply, a Birdlife Malta spokesperson said that Mr Galdes, along with his spokesperson, should be informed that was reported by the NGO on Tuesday 18th April to the Gozo Police was “the presence of a number of protected species within an aviary in Xewkija, and not a cage trap,” as he stated.
“This immediately constituted a situation that warranted a report to police. The matter was clarified several times to the police, so they could undertake an examination of the birds held in custody by Mr Charlton Attard. “
“Such rigorous examination required the presence of WBRU officials, who at the time of the incident were not present on Gozo, and accordingly the investigations within this aviary could not be concluded there and then.”
BirdLife Malta were then informed that the Gozo Police were resting their case on a list of birds provided by the suspect and that the Wild Birds Regulation Unit would only attend two days later for inspection.
The NGO insisted with WBRU to address the matter urgently to avoid a
possible tampering of evidence.
“It is fair to question why BirdLife Malta need to insist on a quick action in this case, rather than this being the normal modus operandi of WBRU.”
Birdlife Malta also called on the government to invest in an appropriately trained and staffed Wildlife Crime Unit, if it wants to seriously uphold enforcement and the protection of vulnerable species such as the Turtle Dove.
“Such a unit would be professionally trained to immediately intervene in such cases, ensure no time is allowed for a possible tempering of evidence, and treat professionally such cases of public or NGOs reporting illegalities, rather than attempting to shoot down the messenger.”