There has been much talk about the rule of law in this country of late, and many are the government acolytes who argue the rule of law is perfectly intact.  Do you see people running around the streets with guns, one such person recently questioned this editorial?

Of course, that is not what the rule of law is about but once we are at it there certainly does seem to be people running around with guns and doing precisely what they like, killing protected birds for their personal amusement for instance.  This situation rears its ugly head every time a bird hunting season opens, when the bad apple hunters out there take aim at any quarry – with the only concern that of being caught.

At the moment, however, there is no bird hunting open under which such miscreants’ gunshots go virtually unnoticed as they shoot at anything lock, stock and barrel.  Now, it seems some hunters have taken to shooting down protected species under cover of the rabbit hunting season, where the gunshots, if they are questioned about them could always be put down to hunting of the mammalian kind as anyone with a rabbit hunting permit can carry shotguns openly in the countryside in the daytime.

Such cover has apparently been used to shoot down a still unknown number protected, and majestic, storks that made the ill-informed choice to stop over in Malta on their migratory path, only to have been shot down by purported rabbit hunters.

The original flock of 18 white storks that arrived last Friday now numbers just seven because, in addition to the four shot storks that were hand3ed over to ornithologists, others are believed to have gone missing because of illegal hunting.

And to make matters even worse, the larger of the hunting lobbies, the FKNK has actually summoned the unbelievable gall to have blamed the European Courts of Justice and the European Commission for the situation.

The situation is now beyond pathetic, and with its statement last weekend the lobby appears to have condoned the latest killings, saying that hunters are no longer cooperating with authorities and reporting poaching illegalities because they have no trust in the European Union.

The lobby said it could no longer count on its members to report illegal hunting, which the lobby had long insisted upon from its members and blamed Europe for doing all it could to wipe out hunting and trapping for good, despite ‘knowing precisely that local traditions are of no threat to any species’.

Such statements lend the lobby little credibility, first and foremost because the illegal killing of protected species was never even on the cards in any way, shape or form.

BirdLife yesterday called on the government to consider delaying the opening of the hunting season until November, which would send a clear message that our country does not tolerate those who do not respect its laws.

This sounds like a fine idea but in the meantime, even out of season enforcement needs to be turned up quite a few notches.

It is high time that the powers that be implement a zero tolerance policy toward illegal hunting once and for all, and to back their words up with concrete action.

That is because quite apart from the ecological threat stemming from the slaughter of protected birds over Malta each autumn and spring, there is a wider question at hand – that of respect for the law of the land.  And while all those concerned – the government and hunting lobbies included – have called for zero tolerance to illegal hunting, as they do each year to little avail, concrete action in such cases will speak far stronger than mere words.

The government must, once and for all, strictly implement the zero tolerance policy that it preaches to all forms of illegal hunting.  Fines need to be increased further still and examples need to be made for those indulging in illegal hunting practices.  They can no longer hide behind arguments of traditional pastimes – the law is the law, full stop.

After all, the government’s credibility, and its rule of law in a manner of speaking, is on the line, illegal hunting is illegal and citizens simply cannot be allowed to run rampant and flout the law of the land with impunity as they have been allowed to do for so long when it comes to hunting.

The government must set an example, it must enforce the law and not allow the bad apples among the hunting community to make a mockery of the laws of the land.