BirdLife fears wholesale massacre after CABS

Raphael Vassallo
BirdLife Malta claimed yesterday that illegal hunting is still rife despite the presence of two international bird monitoring groups – the Campaign Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and Raptor Camp – and warned that the situation may escalate after these groups leave the island at the end of September.
“The migration of birds of prey usually continues until around mid-October, but the monitoring camps will come to a close by the end of this month,” BirdLife’s Pro Geoffrey Saliba told MaltaToday. “If wholesale slaughter of protected birds carries on even with these present, just imagine what it will be like when they leave.”
According to BirdLife Malta, the past week has marked a return to the old habits that have dogged Malta’s bi-annual migration for time out of memory: widespread illegal hunting, and insufficient law enforcement.
Control of illegal hunting falls to the Administrative Law Enforcement agency (ALE), and despite repeated promises to beef up this unit, there are at present only 28 officers to cover the entire country – six of whom are part-timers.
No officers at all are currently stationed in Gozo, where illegal hunting is frequently reported.
In the past week, Birdlife’s offices in Ta’ Xbiex received 12 injured birds – all protected species, and arguably a fraction of the total number of birds injured or killed by hunters.
“This is the worst season that many local birdwatchers can remember in recent years,” Dr Andre Raine, BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager, said. “If BirdLife Malta can receive 12 birds of prey with confirmed gunshot injuries in only six days, then the actual number of protected birds that are being shot throughout the country must be very high. The chances of a shot bird being brought to the BirdLife Malta offices are low since the birds we receive have to escape the poacher who shot them and then be found by someone willing to hand them over to us. Therefore, this really is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Dr Raine agues that the authorities are not doing enough to bring the situation to heel.
“It seems that poachers feel they can simply do as they please,” he said. “It is time that the government took this situation seriously, otherwise the slaughter will continue over the coming weeks. While the presence of international ornithologists and the ALE at key locations in the countryside is having a noticeable effect in these areas, they can not be everywhere at once.”
This week’s surge in illegal hunting is partly the result of the migratory patterns of the birds themselves, which tend to arrive in large numbers
“We experienced a ‘push’ last Friday,” Saliba said, referring to a large influx of migratory birds: mostly raptors such as honey buzzards and marsh harriers. “And we are expecting a similar scenario to repeat itself in the coming days.”
But after the international bird monitoring groups depart at the beginning of next week, BirdLife fears there will be little to prevent another massacre from taking place.
Axel Hirschfield, press officer of CABS, insists that the situation warrants a complete halt to the autumn hunting season.
“All hunting must stop immediately and be banned until after the end of raptor migration. An adequate, effective and qualified police presence on the ground must be guaranteed during this period. Known migration roosts, in addition to Buskett Gardens, must be given protected status in line with the Natura 2000 guidelines. The Mizieb hunting reserve is a high priority in this respect. The complete rural west of the main island, and the open countryside on Gozo, must be closed to any form of hunting activity from 1 August to 15 October annually (a permanent ban on spring hunting is presumed). Hindrance of lawful and responsible conservation monitoring, and harassment of those employed on such tasks, must not be tolerated by the authorities.”
These demands come as the Office of the Prime Minister has requested the Commissioner of Police to investigate two separate claims in connection with illegal hunting: the first made by the general secretary of the hunters’ federation (FKNK), Lino Farrugia, who in a press statement claimed that a number of hunters were being “protected” on account of their connections; the second by CABS, which claimed “renewed massive killing of protected migrant birds of prey by Maltese hunters”, and “concomitant disregard for the rule of law.”
Efforts to contact Farrugia and other FKNK officials yesterday proved futile.

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