Nyal Xuereb – the secretary of St Hubert’s Hunters Association – said that genuine hunters now have to be hawk-eyed and do their own policing, especially in the light of ongoing pressure to observe the law. Duncan Barry joins him on a fruitless hunting trip to try and understand the joys that hunters get out of their pastime
On the second day of the spring hunting season, The Malta Independent joined a couple of hunters in Wardija at 5.30 am to try and get a feel of what hunters ‘die’ for. Normally, journalists accompany CABS or BirdLife Malta activists in bird watching hotspots but this time it was different.
While taking the opportunity to call on hunters not to engage in illegalities, since this is clearly “our last chance”, Mr Xuereb’s father Martin said that while he has no qualms in reporting fellow hunters who abuse, his concern is that there is no whistleblower system in place to protect those who do report such illegalities. This discourages bona fide hunters from lodging reports since they easily can risk becoming victims of a vindictive act.
“When we report abuse to the police, we are asked to testify in court and show our faces. The current reporting system does not encourage genuine hunters to report hunting-related crimes,” he lamented.
Mr Xuereb jnr – who said he was brought up in his father’s hunting den (dura in Maltese) – explained that the weather plays an important role when it comes to the migration of birds.
When this newsroom went out on a hunting trip with both Mr Xuereb and his father, no bird species – those which can be hunted down at this time of year at least – flew past.
“It is quite normal for us to sit and stare for hours on end without spotting any. One could argue that Malta’s over-development could be one major cause, apart from light and noise pollution,” the 36-year-old hunter said, while also suggesting that at times, birds don’t stop on our islands and continue with their journey to other countries.
The perception out there is the opposite, he added.
Mr Xuereb never misses a day of the 17 days hunters are allowed to hunt in spring. “What if it were on the day I decide not to go out and hunt that a flock of birds would fly over our field,” he said.
Mr Xuereb snr, who started hunting at age 12 and now is 61 years old, said that 40-odd years ago, it was a different story.
“We would look over Qawra – at the time there were only two ‘high-rise’ buildings - and we would see flocks of turtle doves flying towards our field in large numbers, not like today. It was like a forest of birds back then. When one looks over Qawra, one will hardly see any birds these days, especially due to over-development.
The Turtle Dove is a common and regular migrant especially in spring.
Raising the issue once again of not having much to hunt, Mr Xuereb jnr said that he could not understand what all the anti-hunting hype is all about.
“You can see with your own eyes, there’s nothing.”
In fact, Malta Independent readers who live in localities such as Gharghur, Naxxar and Siggiewi reported that they were surprised not to have heard the sounds of gunfire this week, synonymous with springtime.
“I was having doubts to whether the hunting season actually opened,” he said.
When asked whether the migration to Malta decline was due to the fact that there may have been a decline of such species in other countries, he said that it is highly unlikely since when one travels to different countries on hunting trips, it’s a different scenario since the numbers are high.
On the migration decline, a hunter who was in the vicinity either saw the brighter side of things or saw it as a means of consolation: “The thrill of hunting in Malta is that not many birds stop over but when they do it is more exciting for us, because we are not spoilt for choice.
“My son,” he continued, “who is a hunter too, has hardly ever seen any turtle doves fly over our islands. In fact, recently he decided to go to Argentina on a hunting trip instead. He paid €4,000 for his trip but he enjoyed every bit of it.
“The older generation has sort of gotten used to the fact that not so many stop over during this restricted period of the year.”
Mr Xuereb jnr explained that migration of birds takes place at around 2 am, “a fact something not many, apart from hunters, know about”. The probable cause, he continued, is that in the early hours of the morning it’s not as hot and the weather is calmer.
“Some birds do stop over our islands for a two-hour rest but then continue with their journey. The ones which do stay are referred to as the night turtle doves.
Accompanied with their dog Sally, the Xuerebs explained that the dog is used to smell out quail (summien).
“Quail require a special dog to locate and retrieve the species which lays low and hides in fields for cover,” he explained. ‘Pointing’, he said, is one of the functions of hunting dogs. Once they locate game, they ‘point’ out the game’s location to the hunter. This is when the hunter steps in.”
Bird migration patterns have changed over time
Mr Xuereb jnr explained that bird migration patterns have changed over time and that certain species increased while some decreased.
Citing an example, he said that the European Bee-eater has been steadily increasing in migration and also started breeding recently.
But this, he said, is not viewed as a positive sign for everyone. While stating that Bee-eaters are a menace to local bees since it’s their main diet, he pointed out that it is also a threat to bee keepers, some of whom have had to import bees to make up for the losses. In other words, bee-eaters are considered as pests by bee-keepers.
‘We were prepared for the worst’
When asked whether they ever dreamt that the ‘Yes’ vote would win, the Xuerebs said that they were prepared for the worst in the same way they had been prepared at the time when Malta had requested the derogation.
“At the time, then prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had warned hunters that the likelihood was that the Birds’ Directive EU derogation would not go through but then it did.”
Licence to ‘kill’
Hunters are obliged to carry a booklet – referred to as a Carnet de Chasse booklet – and state their day’s catch, if any, the location they hunted from along with other details. They are also obliged to carry their licence with them. The data compiled from the booklets is used to compile figures of shot-down birds.
Mr Xuereb jnr explained that members of St Hubert’s association are also requested to jot down – as part of a survey which has been conducted for the past five years by the association itself – additional details such as the number of shots heard fired by other fellow hunters for instance. This is then passed on to the EU for evaluation. He said that it is a fallacy that the members of the association do not hold this survey, as had been stated by a BirdLife representative.
The interview took place before the incident of a protected bird shot down in Manikata came to light.