Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1354939
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 MARCH 2021 NEWS IN the past days, with the first signs of spring migratory birds flying over the Maltese Islands, BirdLife Malta witnessed various illegalities that remind us of the rampant illegal ac- tivities that have become the norm in relation to trapping and hunting. On Sunday, with easterly winds and an overcast that forced birds to seek refuge by flying towards Mal- ta and Gozo, various birds of prey were observed all over the islands. Six protected Ospreys (Arpa) were also observed but unfortunately two of these magnificent birds of prey did not make it further to their breeding grounds when they were shot down by hunters in Gozo and Delimara. Stuffed bird collections are the main reason for such rampant ille- galities in Malta mainly because a system that was in place to check all the lists of stuffed birds in collec- tions stopped once the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) took over this remit. After two amnesties given by pre- vious governments, those that had protected stuffed birds registered their collections with the Environ- ment Department and a process to send qualified people to check these collections commenced. It was immediately evident that most collectors declared larger numbers than what they actually had. The reason for this was so that until they had their collections ver- ified, they could keep on adding more birds to their collections as per their registered list. This is still happening today and BirdLife Malta has been asking WB- RU to acquire help from the Envi- ronment & Resources Authority's professional personnel that have the qualifications to do this work for a number of years now. Another illegal activity witnessed in the past weeks is illegal finch trapping which has never been so rampant during springtime. This, BirdLife Malta says, is mainly due to the message sent by the Gov- ernment that it intends to reopen a finch trapping season in autumn against the will of the Europe- an Commission. The birds being trapped right now will be sold to those that need live decoy birds in autumn. Through the work of BirdLife Malta and Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) teams, over 140 finches have been confiscat- ed by police since the beginning of March, with most of them being re- leased back into the wild while oth- ers are being rehabilitated and will be released shortly once they gain back their strength. BirdLife Malta also commended the efforts being shown by the En- vironmental Protection Unit (EPU). It is evident that the police officers within EPU seem to be willing to achieve results in bird protection law enforcement. BirdLife Malta urged the author- ities to increase the compliment of personnel in this unit and to pro- vide them with all resources. It also asked the Malta Police Force to start allowing EPU to work in Gozo, an island which depends on the district officers at police sta- tions to take any action. "While in Malta we are seeing re- sults, in Gozo we hardly ever see any initiative from the police," it said. BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said that, while the Government is challenging the European Commis- sion and reopening both a spring hunting season and a finch autumn trapping season, one can only ex- pect the worse for migrating birds. "The respect of the law from hunt- ers has dwindled to nothing while hunting lobby organisations have lost control of their members. This will only lead to thousands of pro- tected birds being shot and trapped illegally and will inevitably place Malta once again in a defensive po- sition at the European Court of Jus- tice," he said. "We will keep on insisting with the Government to take the right deci- sions but we ask the general public to join us in this call by following our ongoing #onthemove campaign and becoming members of BirdLife Malta. We will remain committed to saving more birds and to keeping the European Union informed of the sad state of our country when it comes to bird protection." Start of spring bird migration over Malta marked with hunting and trapping illegalities MATTHEW VELLA BIRDLIFE has reported the downing of a Black Kite, a highly protected bird of prey in Europe, while heading towards its northen breeding grounds. The bird was shot illegally, since a prospective spring hunt- ing season has not yet been officially declared. The bird was reported injured at 6:50am, Tuesday morning, by a member of the public who found the Black Kite (Maltese name: Astun Iswed) at Mtarfa. The police were called on site and collected the bird to hand it over to the government veterinarian. "Once again this is proof of the rampant illegal hunting taking place across our islands which unfortunately is not an exception but has become the norm," BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said. "This is a symptom of pampered hunters and trappers that in the past years have seen all they demanded come true. Prime Minister Robert Abela has been bending over back- wards in more ways than one to appease the hunting lobby, including with trapping and hunting derogations that will land Malta at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) once again. "This video has also been sent to the Maltese Members of Parliament and Malta's MEPs, along with the European Commission, as we desperately ask for immediate action to stop this. We call on the general public to support us by be- coming BirdLife Malta members and we also request the Eu- ropean Union to take all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of birds migrating over Malta this spring while heading north to their breeding grounds in Europe." Poachers shoot down Black Kite on its way north for breeding season