Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 APRIL 2015 15 sibly even become suicidal. This was even the substance of an official cam- paign statement by the FKNK. Oddie is himself an entertainer, and it is public knowledge that (like many entertainers) he suffers from occasional bouts of depression him- self. In fact he campaigns for aware- ness of mental health issues, too, es- pecially with British charity Bipolar UK. Surely, then, he would surely ap- preciate the value of entertainment as a possible therapy for depression. How would he respond to an argu- ment like that? "I can certainly understand the ar- gument – yes, I suffered from depres- sion myself, and you can definitely say that part of that was brought on by witnessing all the horrible things that go on. I always have been a wildlife lover; I absolutely wouldn't dream of going out and shooting something just for pleasure. But if the price of your so-called sanity is to actually blast the living daylights out of something as beautiful as a migra- tory bird – something miraculous, in my view; something that should al- most be, if not worshipped, at least vastly appreciated and enjoyed… you will get depressed one way or anoth- er. You're killing joy…" He adds that it is actually hunting, and not the lack of it, that causes depression. "I have to admit this happened a couple of times when I was in Malta. Looking at hunters, out in the field at around four in the morning, when there are no birds around… you'll see them stand- ing about, staring into space… I've actually thought, these people are depressed. It doesn't look joyous. There's something really lonely and sad about it. And it doesn't surprise me, either. I think that, if your hap- piness is going to depend on killing things, then it's going to come back at you at one stage or another." Still on the subject of depression, Oddie himself described the refer- endum result as a "pretty depressing comment about humanity." From his experience over the years, would he say that the situation facing wildlife on a global – with particular regard to hunting – has deteriorated? He replies that it's never been as bad as today. "The situation in Malta is concentrated in a way that you won't see anywhere else. But the situation in other countries is getting worse, too. The actual number of birds be- ing killed, of different species and in different places, is getting massive. Cyprus is another example. I have been there several times. There was a referendum there, too, and they had banned spring shooting in the 1970s. But now it's crept back in, and the situation is completely out of hand. It's worse than ever. If I had to say, where can we save most birds by stopping hunting in one country, I would probably have to go for Cy- prus. Although I'm told that Egypt, Lebanon and other countries in the region are appalling, too. There is still quite a lot of hunting that goes on in Italy, France, Spain and so on. It's absolutely rife. And an awful lot of it is happening around the Medi- terranean…" The referendum result also means there will be a lot more of it in future. This naturally raises the question: what does one do now? What advice would Oddie give to other activists, or even just concerned individuals, on how to keep up the resistance in the face of this setback? "I do get asked this question a lot, especially by people who want to know how they can help as individu- als. What I will say is that the NGOs involved in the preservation of wild- life – Birdlife Malta and CABS in particular – do need observers to be in Malta during this season. There is a lot of camaraderie, a lot of… well, it's bit of a hippie thing to say, but there is quite a lot of love in these organisations. They're nice, well- meaning people. But they need all the help they can get. So I'll be say- ing to people in Britain is that: if you want to be of use, and volunteer… Malta is going to continue shoot- ing birds in spring. Volunteers are needed. The NGOs depend on them. And it's not an extremist thing. Ab- solutely not. Sometimes people are a bit scared of the word 'activist'. But it's not extremist at all. It's positively homely. To put it simply, I think that working with and for animals and wildlife brings out the best in people. But it also brings out in the worst, in the sense that you will see depressing things." One course of action Oddie won't be advocating, however, is a boycott of Malta as a tourist destination (as some, especially in the UK, have pro- posed). "I don't agree with it at all. I know for a fact that none of us in NGO ar- eas would support a boycott. It just doesn't work. All it does is create a fuss, but it never works. It didn't work in Cyprus in the 1970s. Apart from anything else, a lot of British people who go to Malta for are... how can I put this? Half of them probably haven't even noticed yet. They're not the type who go to a country to see birds, and they're not the type of people who would follow a boycott, either." As he speaks it is hard not to detect a distinct change of tone when talking about birds in general (as opposed to their slaughter). Just a few moments earlier, he described migratory birds as 'to be (almost) worshipped'. And when talking about birds in general, Oddie seems to automatically be- come more chirpy himself. It is as though there is something uplifting, almost spiritual, about the subject... "In a sense, there is. To me, killing migratory birds is a sacrilege. An ab- solute sacrilege… speaking of which, I want to see more action from the Church. I know that the Archbishop in Malta made an excellent appear- ance in the debate… and when I saw that, I said: great, that's fantastic. Now off you go, and get the Pope over here to say the same thing. In fact it was a bit of a running joke among birdwatchers in Malta this year. We kept asking, where's the Pope? When's Pope Francis coming? Because he could make a great differ- ence…" A joke it may be, but there is a seri- ous side to it. Some years back, Odd- ie had in fact petitioned Pope John Paul II to make bird-killing a mortal sin. He never got an answer from the Vatican, but still awaits one in (not exactly joyful) hope. "In all seriousness, I do believe that if there was an edict saying that gra- tuitous slaughter of wildlife is not acceptable, it would make a huge dif- ference. And it shouldn't be accepta- ble… religiously, it shouldn't be. I am not a religious person, but looking at it from a religious perspective, it is nothing more than the wanton de- struction of one of the greatest mira- cles on earth. Bird migration…." Are his efforts to rope in the Vati- can still ongoing? "Not from my end, but we did have a bloke with us in Malta this time from a British Roman Catho- lic organization called 'Catholics for Wildlife'. I know he is desperately trying to get some kind of audience with the Pope, but as far as I know he hasn't succeeded yet. Hence our constant banter about the Pope com- ing to Malta…" Oddie however acknowledges that hope hasn't fully deserted him yet. "The signs are good for this particular pope, I would say. He's called himself Francis after Francis of Assisi, which isn't bad going. So one presumes he's pro-birds…" Interview British TV personality Bill Oddie may be a comedian by vocation, but he admits he sees very little to smile about in the result of Malta's spring hunting referendum