Birds killed illegally in Malta have tripled in four years
The number of protected birds diagnosed by BirdLife Malta as being illegally shot was 181 in 2021, a “small fraction” representing the public’s findings of dead birds, the NGO reported today.
BirdLife today released data showing a total of 794 illegally fired protected birds found by the general public in the last eight years.
The upward trend is with 76% of these findings being in the last four years. From 2014 to 2017, there were 190 birds diagnosed as illegally shot, while in the last four years, from 2018 to 2021, this more than tripled to 604.
@ malta.today BirdLife releases footage showing illegal hunting in Malta 🪶
“It is fair to conclude that thousands of other protected birds such as birds of prey, flamingos and cartridges have been killed and illegally collected by the perpetrators, mainly for taxidermy purposes,” said BirdLife Chief Executive Mark Sultana.
The data does not include illegally caught finches under a controversial ‘scientific’ derogation created by the Maltese government to derogate from the EU ban on trapping of finches.
BirdLife says the derogation acts as a smokescreen and has already been widely challenged by the European Commission, which will now take Malta to the EU Court of Justice.
“The abuse of such a derogation is so rampant that in just a few months BirdLife Malta has received 926 protected sponsors for rehabilitation, after which they will be released back into the wild. Another 120 protected birds were also caught illegally by the same methods, “said Sultana.
Sultana accused the government of not taking illegal hunting and trapping seriously even after the EC initiated legal action against Malta.
BirdLife Malta will be presenting its data figures along with video and photographic evidence to the European Commission.
“There are several reasons why rampant illegal killings are on the rise in Malta,” said Sultana. “We believe that the lack of discipline on the part of hunters combined with a backward and sidelong government to give in to the demands of the hunting lobby for weaker laws, weaker enforcement, and further derogations from the Birds, are the main cause.
“We are still suffering from two major mistakes made in the past by governments, both Labor and Nationalist, which had granted amnesties to thousands of hunters who had claimed that over half a million protected birds had been shot illegally. The search for these lists has been halted, making it easy for protected birds being shot today to be pardoned under those amnesties. ”
Worst delays in making certain areas known for hunting, such as Qawra Point, a no-hunting area.
“While the Minister of the Environment stated this publicly after the massacre of Greater Flamingos protected in the area, he seems to have failed to find support from the rest of the Government. We urge both parties not to be outdone by those who break the law and start taking illicit killings and trapping seriously, “said Sultana.