Birdlife have announced that in an ALE court hearing yesterday, two poachers (illegal hunters) were found guilty of the killing of a Lesser-spotted Eagle (1), a rare protected bird of prey, in Buskett Bird Sanctuary last September. The shooter was fined €2,500, had his shotgun confiscated and his hunting license suspended for a year, while his accomplice was fined €1,800 and also had his hunting license suspended for a year.

The shooting incident occurred on the 28th September 2008, when two poachers were observed by a BirdLife Malta Raptor Camp team stalking a roosting Lesser-spotted Eagle and shooting it inside the Buskett Bird Sanctuary. One of the poachers was later filmed by the Raptor Camp volunteers hiding the dead protected bird under his shirt and then stashing it by the side of the road(2). The poachers were apprehended by the ALE mobile squad who arrived on the scene shortly after the Raptor Camp volunteers reported the crime to the police. A later search of one of the poacher’s premises revealed a further 15 undeclared protected birds in his collection police revealed during today’s court case.

Bob Elliot, Head of Investigations for RSPB Scotland (BirdLife in Scotland), who witnessed the shooting of the Lesser-spotted Eagle last September, returned to Malta today to attend the trail in Valletta.

“As a professional wildlife crime investigator, I am appalled with the scale of illegal hunting and trapping in Malta.” stated Mr Elliot. “On an average we record around 60 cases of wild bird crime every year in Scotland whereas in Malta, last year BirdLife alone recorded over 2100 incidents and received 106 confirmed shot protected birds. This is despite the fact that Scotland is 250 times the size of Malta and has the worst reputation in terms of wild life crimes in the whole of the UK,” concluded Elliot.

BirdLife Malta reacted positively to the verdict, and stressed the important role of the law courts in controlling illegal hunting and trapping crimes in Malta.

The organisation also drew attention to the recent analysis of a subset of illegal hunting and trapping court cases between 2006 and 2008 which revealed that the majority of fines allocated to successful convictions were still either at the minimum or below the minimum amount as stipulated in national law.

“We have however recently started to see a positive trend in court sentences for poachers convicted of wildlife crimes this year, with fines increasing and penalties beginning to match the seriousness of the offences. Serious penalties like in today’s case, coupled with a dedicated wildlife crime unit, is the only way to put an end to these wildlife crimes in Malta.” said Geoffrey Saliba, BirdLife Malta Campaigns Coordinator.

The video can be seen on the BirdLife Malta website. http://www.birdlifemalta.org

1.The Lesser-spotted Eagle is listed under Annex I of the Birds Directive, affording it the highest legal protection. It is a European Species of Conservation Concern.

2.The incident was filmed by a distant team by holding a digital camera to a telescope.

Photo above is a screen grab taken from the BirdLife Malta video showing the ALE intercepting the poacher, and the dead Lesser-spotted Eagle being given to the ALE.