Birdlife Malta today decried the “rampant killing” of protected birds across Malta and Gozo, saying that this year’s spring hunting season once again proved to be “a smokescreen for hunters to go out and shoot at will on anything that flew by.”
The season closes on Saturday and hunters are only allowed to shoot for quail but BirdLife believes that thousands of turtle doves have been shot.
At a press conference this morning, BirdLife said hunters were targeting every protected bird they saw.
Birdlife was telling journalists that 10 protected birds had been retrieved and confirmed shot by the vet so far, when another injured bird was brought in, during the press conference. A vet later confirmed it had also been shot.
“These are only a small percentage of the birds shot since many other species were seen either being targeted or actually carrying clear signs of gunshot injuries such as dangling legs and broken feather tips. This remains to be a small fraction of what is really happening in the countryside and hunting illegalities this spring were rampant,” BirdLife said.
The group said it believes that hundreds of Turtle Doves were shot over the past days and this happened because this year’s spring hunting season dates were “moved purposely to coincide with the peak migration of this protected bird.”
BirdLife said it was clear that turtle dove casualties are in line, if not higher, than pre-moratorium years.
“The number of hunters seen targeting Turtle Doves, some of which are documented in videos, is disheartening and should bring shame to those that supported the decision to move this year’s spring hunting dates within the peak season of the Turtle Dove’s migration.”
“This is proven further by the fact that while thousands of shots have been heard in all areas of the country in the past two weeks, the number of Quails declared shot were a mere 229, according to data which the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) has.”
BirdLife Malta President Darryl Grima, CEO Mark Sultana and Conservation Manager Nicholas Barbara explained that these videos and documentation will be part of a report that is being compiled by BirdLife Malta to be submitted to the European Commission, who has the duty to check whether this year’s spring hunting season has adhered to its parameters including making sure that the vulnerable Turtle Dove is not being targeted.
The 11 protected birds which were recovered by BirdLife Malta and the police since the start of the season on 1st April up until today were all found by members of the public. This total adds up to more than one shot bird every two days with one particular day (12th April) returning two casualties in less than 24 hours. For the past week – as migration of most birds picked up – BirdLife Malta had a bird with gunshot injuries being delivered to our offices every single day.
“We call once again on the Government to have the courage to use scientific data and studies to take such decisions and distance itself from any political will it might have had. We also ask for the enforcement unit within the WBRU to be shifted onto the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA), while a specialised unit within the police force is set up to handle only wildlife crime,” they said.
FKNK warns hunters
The hunter’s federation this afternoon warned hunters that it would not tolerate any breaches of the law. It said that hunters who committed illegalities would lose their membership, without which they cannot have a hunting license.