News | Sunday, 10 May 2009

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Licences for rabbit hunting increase by 22%

James Debono
Wild rabbits are in for a nasty surprise – ever since the ban on spring hunting gave migratory birds some respite from an annual massacre, licences for weapons used to kill rabbits have increased by 22% in just 15 months.
Comparably, the licences for shotguns used to hunt birds from land increased by just 2.9% over the same period – possibly indicating the effects of the Birds Directive may have led to more hunting of wild rabbits.
Since January 2008, 271 new licenses were issued for hunting rabbits, bringing the total of weapons registered for rabbit shooting to 1,483. On the other hand, licenses for bird hunting increased from 7,158 to 7,364.
The rabbit hunting season extends between 1 June and 31 December. Licenses are issued only to landowners or persons who obtain a written permit from landowners to hunt rabbits on their land – they can only hunt rabbits on a particular piece of land as specified by their licence.
Sources told MaltaToday that the number of licenses for rabbit shooting increased after hunters were allowed to use air guns to hunt rabbits in 2008. Hunters with a shotgun permit had to reapply again if they wanted to hunt rabbits with an airgun.
Maltese wild rabbits mostly live near cliffs and in garigue areas. Hunters usually wait for the rabbit to emerge from their burrow or else they flush it out with a ferret.

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