With the autumn hunting season having opened last Sunday, one can dream that no protected birds will be shot down, but the reality is that there is no chance of that dream being fulfilled.

While it is true that hunters have been, in the past, taken to court for the killing of protected species, the view that hunters have the run of the land is still very much believed by many, and stories of protected bird being shot make headlines.

As an example, the shooting of a flamingo in the off season just weeks ago sparked outrage on Facebook, and rightfully so.

The government had, back in 2015 closed the spring hunting season due to the extensive shooting of protected birds. While that showed government action, it has not done the same since when more protected birds were shot.

Indeed some have complained of the lack of resources within the environmental enforcement arm of the police, and that they take too long to come on site for enforcement to be taken seriously.

 One prime example was when the aforementioned flamingo was shot. BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana had said, in his video on Facebook, that he had called the police and at the time his  video was posted, had been waiting for 20 minutes and said that they were “far away and only had two cars” that day. In 20 minutes the culprit could have picked up the bird and ran off with nobody being able to find or identify that person.

While arguments have been made that hunting illegalities are not as numerous as they used to be, one can question whether this could be due to such illegalities being caught less or whether less of such shootings are occurring.

Indeed the best way to stop illegalities altogether is for there to be a strong deterrent. If some hunters still think it is ok to shoot a Flamingo in rabbit hunting season, then clearly some people are not deterred by the current legislation. Maybe even heftier fines should be introduced.

This would obviously have no effect on hunters who abide by the law. Indeed hunting in Malta has been a tradition for many, many years, but those who do not abide by the regulations should be punished.

Organisations like BirdLife actively go out and about to keep watch over hunters, and ensure that as many illegalities as possible are reported. And so many reports are made during the hunting seasons. The fact that private individuals have to do this indicates that the authorities do not have the manpower required to catch the illegalities on their own. Just imagine of such NGOs did not exist...

Arguments have been made that the hunting lobby in Malta is too strong, and perhaps that is true. They have had a certain sway over politicians for years. But nowadays people are becoming more and more aware of the importance of nature, and that lobby can have a sway too.