BirdLife Malta and international ornithologists attending the Raptor Monitoring Camp, have denounced the killing of protected bird species which is continuing to plague the Maltese and Gozitan countryside.

BirdLife exhibited two Honey Buzzards (Kuccard), both of which had been injured and one of which had to be put down. The dead bird had been brought in alive to BirdLife's offices on Friday having sustained at least 5 injuries. It was found by a member of the public in Siggiewi and had to be put down by a vet due to the injuries. The other bird, which was alive though injured, was recovered by BirdLife on Saturday evening.

So far, what has been witnessed is the killing of and the shooting at a significant amount of protected birds covering over 16 different species. Raptor Camp teams have been witness to incidents such as that on the morning of September 13 when a team posted at Girgenti witnessed 3 Honey Buzzards, 2 Marsh Harriers (Baghdan Ahmar) and 1 Common Kestrel (Spanjulett) shot down. This followed from the previous day when a team heard 13 shots being fired by several hunters at one Osprey before it went down. A team posted in Gozo on Saturday witnessed the shooting down and collection of a Flamingo from a boat on the sea.

Together with a 37-strong team of foreign ornithologists, BirdLife Malta today urged the Maltese government to take the ongoing wild life crimes seriously, and to increase police presence in the countryside to enforce the legal notice it issued that bans hunting after 3pm during the last 15 days of September.

"The new provision whereby hunting is to come to an end at 3pm from Monday to Saturday came into force yesterday," said Tolga Temuge, BirdLife Malta's Executive Director. "Government must ensure that there is serious enforcement of the Legal Notice issued. Words on paper will not be enough to stop certain hunters from consistently breaking the law. Unless Government shows the political will to seriously and effectively clamp down on illegal hunting, the new provision will be nothing more than cheap talk."

Mr. Temuge explained that during the first week of Raptor Camp, the foreign ornithologists and scientists witnessed many incidents of illegal hunting and have heard illegal pre-recorded quail lures. "While collaboration with the Administrative Law Enforcement section continues to be positive, it is impossible for the A.L.E. to effectively monitor the hot spots with its extremely limited human resources. This is a very serious matter, particularly since we are expecting migration to pick up once the weather improves and this will only imply more illegal killing of protected species than before."

Bob Elliott is one of the volunteers of international repute participating in Raptor Camp. Mr Elliott, who heads the RSPB Investigations (Royal Society for Protection of Birds) in Scotland, said that he was shocked with the intensity of how many people go out hunting here in Malta. "The terrain is covered with hunting hides, it truly is very alarming to see. Moreover, on my first day out on the field, I was very upset to see an Osprey [Arpa], a species I am very familiar with back home in Scotland, shot down before my very eyes. Members of my team were in tears," Mr Elliott affirmed.

Another illustrious member of Raptor Camp is Steve Downing, a retired Police Officer who now works for the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit and heads a conservation project called Operation Artemis which is aimed at saving the Hen Harrier (Baghdan Abjad Prim) in the United Kingdom. He added his frustration to Mr Elliott's saying, "Almost all raptors we see from a distance which fly through at firing range are being blasted out of the sky by criminals who are challenging the law on a daily basis. It must be understood that killing a protected species is a crime and those who commit this crime must be brought to justice," said Mr Downing.

"Allowing this to continue to happen on this scale not only encourages further abuse but is also a slap in the face to conservation efforts in other countries. As someone who leads a project to fight wild life crimes in the UK, I was prepared to witness illegal hunting before I came to Malta. However, seeing the scale of illegal hunting going on here in person is a true wake-up call," Mr Downing concluded.