11 April 2007 Rating 95% No Comment  

BirdLife Malta, on the first day of the opening of yet another spring hunting season in Malta,�has announced that the organisation has received yet more reports of dead and injured birds of prey. BirdLife have reported the incidents to both the Administrative Law Enforcement�unit and Malta Environment and Planning Authority. In the first incident a concerned citizen from Gozo called the BirdLife office to report an injured juvenile Marsh Harrier she had found. The bird had fresh gunshot wounds to its wing and had been found in the morning, which is of course the first day of the spring hunting season. Upon BirdLife's advice the person handed the juvenile Marsh Harrier on to the Gozo Police. In a second incident a local bird watcher found a dead Marsh Harrier carrying a ring which showed that the bird had come from Finland. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, it had probably been killed a few days previously, outside�of the hunting season. Marsh Harriers have been recorded in Malta from 8 different countries; Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Poland & Hungary. BirdLife Malta Executive Director Tolga Temuge said: "The injured or killed protected birds that are found represent only the tip of the iceberg since these criminals who shoot at protected species are likely to hide or destroy the "evidence". Yet the fact that we have received many reports of illegal hunting even before the opening of another illegal spring hunting season gives an idea of the illegal activity that is going on out there." The Administrative Law Enforcement�unit has less than 30 officers in Malta and Gozo to control more than 16,000 hunters and trappers. BirdLife continuously stated that the spring hunting of Turtle Dove and Quail is used as a blanket season to kill protected species by many hunters. "With the blessings of the Maltese government a small group of bullies are unleashed to kill protected species and occupy the Maltese countryside during what should be the best time of the year for local people to appreciate nature. This is the fourth breach of the EU law since Malta joined the EU and if the Maltese government continues to ignore the EU laws with the hope of gaining a few votes, it will be the Maltese tourism and tax payers who will have to pay the high price." Temuge concluded.