Illegal hunting and trapping is still taking place on the island, despite the public outcry over the past years.

The hunting lobby has always condemned the shooting of protected birds, and has always condemned illegal hunting, yet some hunters seem to prioritise their greed and selfishness above all else. Once these hunters and trappers are caught, one hopes that the respective hunting organisations ban their membership and that their licences are revoked outright.

On 4 March, BirdLife Malta said two storks that are part of a flock that has been in Malta have been observed with gunshot wounds. One of the storks had a slightly dangling leg whilst another had blood stains on its belly, leg and tail feathers, the NGO said, and this when bird hunting season is closed.

In another statement yesterday, BirdLife Malta said it had uncovered a trapping site at Kalkara – a site which has been previously reported to police for illegal trapping.

Footage was taken and a report was lodged. Members of the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) police unit who went to the site found nets as well as a number of illegally trapped birds in captivity.

The unregistered trapping site, found with unattended nets on the ground, is situated within Fort Ricasoli, which is owned by the Government of Malta, and most of it is currently being leased to the Malta Film Commission. ALE police officers removed the nets and confiscated 23 protected birds that were being kept in captivity, BirdLife Malta said.

One worrying part of the statement, however, was that despite the NGO asking for the intervention of Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) experts, “the WBRU lacked adequate capacity to assist, with police in turn resorting to calling on Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) experts to help in identifying the confiscated birds.”

The very fact that NGOs still have to be the ones to report many of the hunting illegalities taking place around the island, possibly putting themselves in a dangerous situation by doing so, means that Malta does not have enough enforcement officials to monitor the illegal hunting situation on their own. It is however pertinent to note that BirdLife Malta thanked both ALE and ERA “for their timely intervention” in the trapping site case, thus meaning that response seems to have been quite fast from these organisations which is definitely a good thing.

The government however has been far too lax with the hunting lobby, and the hunting lobby has been far too silent and ineffective at controlling illegal hunting. The hunting lobby should take action and better monitor to prevent illegal hunting activities on the island itself, and the authorities charged with preventing illegal hunting and trapping should have their resources bolstered to meet the realities of hunting in Malta and Gozo today and have better monitoring mechanisms altogether.

With spring hunting just around the corner, one hopes that Malta will not play host to a massacre of protected birds. 

The fact that the WBRU was placed under the responsibility of the Minister for Gozo does not make sense, and given his ties to hunting has raised much concern. Indeed, BirdLife Malta has not only described this decision as diabolical but also said it is illegal within the present legislation.

The image of hunting in Malta is like the old west. The authorities really need to start clamping down and stronger deterrents need to be put in place.