NEWS | Wednesday, 10 December 2008

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Birds confiscated from falconry centre now safe in Sicily

Fifteen protected birds confiscated by the police from a falconry centre in Malta are being rehabilitated at a Sicilian rehabilitation centre by renowned Sicilian Conservationist and Goldman prize winner Anna Giordano.
The birds were confiscated from a falconry centre in Malta on the 1 December during a joint operation by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the Administrative Law Enforcement unit. The falconry was illegally in possession of a large number of protected species, including birds of prey and a Little Egret, according to the police.
In many cases, the birds had been illegally held for several years.
As there is no centre in Malta with proper rehabilitation facilities for wild birds, MEPA contacted the Aziende Foresta Demaniali’s rehabilitation centre which agreed to take the birds.
The Sicilian authority on wild fauna, the Ripartizione Faunistico Venatoria, authorized the rehabilitation centre to hold and treat the birds until they are fit to be released. BirdLife Malta has also been working closely with this Sicilian centre and had previously sent eight shot protected birds to the rehabilitation centre over the 2009 autumn migration period.
“Our in-house veterinarian, Fabio Grosso, examined all the birds we received from Malta,” Goirdano said.
“Some of the birds were in terrible condition and their injuries had set badly during the long period they were illegally kept in captivity at the falconry centre in Malta. So it may not be possible to fully rehabilitate all of them. Many of them however are very fit, but it will still take time to rehabilitate them. This is, because these wild birds have been kept illegally in cages for such a long time that it is now necessary to slowly train them to be able to feed themselves in the wild once more and to have a complete plumage to be ready to fly in the best conditions.”
“I was also horrified to see that the Little Egret had its wing feathers chopped off,” Giordano said. “This means that the bird will not be able to be released for at least a year until it re-grows its feather, even though it is not injured.”
BirdLife Malta yesterday said there was growing evidence that the practice of illegally keeping protected birds is a serious problem in Malta. In 2007, BirdLife alone received nine separate birds with clipped wings showing they had been kept in captivity after being shot. The organisation has also received similar reports in 2008 and has forwarded all of the information on to the police.
According to experts, the protected species had a total market value exceeding €20,000.
Altogether, 32 little stints, 13 wood sandpipers, eight common sandpipers, five little ringed plovers, five green sandpipers, two white wagtails, two yellow wagtails and a red-throated pipit, a dunlin, a Temminch’s stint and ring ouzel were found.
In 2006, MaltaToday revealed that falconry enthusiast Rene Scicluna had filed an application for the construction of a falconry centre and to sanction illegal works in Ta’ Zgamardi in Siggiewi, where around 30 raptors were being kept in cages.
The birds were already housed in four-metre high cages, clearly visible on the illegally developed site. Scicluna had insisted the eagles were brought over legally from European Union countries.

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