Maltese Poachers defy spring hunting ban

21/04/2009 09:49:30 Raptors illegally targeted by Maltese hunters

April 2009. More than 950 shots were recorded by BirdLife's Spring Watch camp teams at several locations in Malta alone (excluding Gozo) over the last nine days since the beginning of the international bird monitoring camp.

Video fotoage
BirdLife Malta also revealed videos and still images of poachers roaming the countryside, and has also collected a range of protected birds that had been shot. The video footage includes disturbing images of two men in Maghtab smashing the head of an injured Marsh Harrier with a rock and then stashing it, and poachers with white balaclavas covering their faces shooting in San Dimitri (Gozo) during a public holiday where families use the same area for recreational purposes.

BirdLife also collected a Marsh Harrier that had been shot in the Salina bird sanctuary. Over the last week Spring Watch teams have received five Marsh Harriers, one Scops Owl and one Montague's Harrier, all protected birds, with shotgun injuries. Spring Watch teams have on several occasions spotted protected birds in flight with visible shotgun injuries, including 26 raptors.

Increase in injured birds
There is also a significant increase in the number of shot birds that Birlife Malta has received this year. Since the beginning of March, 17 protected birds were passed on to BirdLife, all had been shot, compared to four during the same period last year.

"Although the spring hunting season is officially closed, many poachers have been enjoying these days with impunity from the law. On several occasions where our teams spotted poachers through their telescopes and contacted the police, the police units could not make it on time as they were over-stretched" said Joseph Mangion, President of BirdLife Malta.

"Only after we alerted the Office of the Prime Minister did law enforcement in the countryside improve significantly, and we are grateful for that. However if the government does not commit to dealing seriously with illegal hunting by establishing a wildlife crime unit, beefing up the resources of the police, and ensuring that repeat offenders receive the maximum fines, this very same problem will happen again in the next migration season." continued Mangion.

BirdLife underlined the fact that the number of shots heard and illegal activities observed by the Spring Watch teams reflect only a portion of the true scale of illegal hunting as the teams can only cover a few parts of the island each day. In addition to these observations, the BirdLife office has received calls daily from members of the public who have been reporting illegal shootings while complaining that they were unable to reach the police.

Spring Watch have noticed poachers targeting roosting (sleeping) birds late in the night, from behind high walls while observers with binoculars tipped them off by radio. They have even been observed using muffled shotguns.

Birdlife Malta Spring Watch Camp
52 international birdwatchers from eight countries, namely: Denmark, UK, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Germany, and Belgium, together with nine local team leaders, are taking part in this year's Spring Watch Camp. So far 96 different species of migratory birds including 11 raptor species have been observed, showing the importance of Malta as an important stop-over and resting spot on the central migratory flyway for wild birds.

Footage of the incidents can be seen on www.birdlifemalta.org  

BirdLife Malta has received 5 shot Marsh Harriers this spring. These birds migrate vast distances between their African wintering grounds and European breeding grounds. Photo by BirdLife Malta.