BirdLife Malta’s office has received yet another protected bird with severe visible gunshot wounds which left the vet with no option but to euthanize the bird. This autumn alone BirdLife Malta offices have received more than thirty protected birds illegally gunned down by poachers.

“The young Black-headed Gull brought in today is the latest victim of poachers in Malta and is only one of the many shot protected birds BirdLife continues to receive,” Conservation Manager of BirdLife Malta, Dr André Raine explained. “The bird was brought in by an ex-hunter who was disgusted with the current lack of respect shown by some hunters to the law. In any other country, no self-respecting hunter would be so cowardly as to shoot at a seagull, yet here in Malta now that the migration is over some hunters are shooting at anything that has the misfortune to fly past them,” Dr Raine stated.

This latest negative incident follows hot on the heels of some good news which comes from Cyprus where two men were arrested and brought to court last week following a swift police investigation in connection with the massacre of 52 threatened Red-footed falcons. The accused were charged with the deliberate killing of protected birds and unlawful possession of shotguns in a ‘no hunting’ area. The suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a penalty of up to three years imprisonment or a fine of €17,000, or both. The court set the first hearing for the trial for January 8th.

“BirdLife Malta believes that the exemplary response of the authorities in Cyprus was fundamental in securing the arrest of these two individuals,” said Dr Raine. “Unfortunately, BirdLife Malta is currently not receiving sufficient support from the local law enforcement arm responsible for illegal hunting incidents, the ALE. They frequently do not respond to our reports of illegal hunting and trapping incidents and this is almost certainly due to a lack of resources and manpower since the ALE is ridiculously understaffed. This simply allows illegal hunters to continue breaking the law as these criminals are aware that, in the majority of cases, they will remain unpunished,” he concluded.

BirdLife stated that certain statements by Members of Parliament trying to gain political mileage as Election Day approaches by bowing to the hunters’ demands do nothing to help better the situation. Most recently Labour MP Joe Abela spoke in Parliament in defence of a man who stopped his car in the middle of a major road to shoot at a protected bird of prey on Sunday afternoon (when hunting is not allowed), thereby breaking at least three laws at the same time.

“It is unbelievable,” said Tolga Temuge, Executive Director of BirdLife Malta, “to see that some politicians in this day and age retain their old habits of appeasing the hunters’ lobby to gain political leverage, even when the case is clear. We demand that MPs file a parliamentary question asking the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs to announce how many poachers have been arraigned since the opening of the autumn hunting season and what the outcome of these cases was. This will show politicians how ineffective law enforcement in Malta is when it comes to wildlife crimes,” Temuge concluded.