Hunting Gozo: Environmental specialised units are “non-existent” – BLM

by Gozo News · September 18, 2023

Police officers monitoring the autumn hunting season – which opened on the 1st of September and runs until 31st January 2024 – have been reduced, BirdLife Malta has claimed.

BirdLife also argued that “on Gozo, environmental specialised units are non-existent, with most of the police force expected to be taken up at policing school traffic during morning hours, while hunting is left largely uncontrolled on the sister island.”

“Enforcement of the season relies on the Malta Police Force’s Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) which currently numbers only 15 officers that operate on a shift basis,” Birdlife said.

The NGO pointed out that “at the same time, illegal hunting is revving up as the autumn bird migration peaks.”

It added that “whereas in past years, officer numbers were boosted to be able to field a stronger police presence at a time when the migration of various protected species peaks on the Maltese Islands, this year such numbers will not be boosted.”

BirdLife stressed that “this means that during peak migration events expected in the coming days, a maximum of 1-2 police units that are specialised on hunting matters shall be operative on Malta.”

The NGO stated that “the first two weeks of the autumn hunting season have already seen various episodes of illegal hunting, as political will to curtail illegal hunting remains stagnated.”

“With the migration of various European protected species over Malta expected to peak in the coming days, a low police presence will only translate in further uncontrolled and illegal hunting,” it said.

BirdLife explained that large soaring birds such as buzzards, harriers, eagles and storks that rely on warm air to be able to gain height and cross over from Sicily to Africa, will seek refuge if they arrive to the Maltese Islands in the afternoon, flying at low altitude “susceptible to being shot down.”

It added that although in the past a 3pm hunting curfew had been enforced to protect these species from being killed, “the measure had been removed in recent years on the insistence of the hunting lobby.”

BirdLife Malta stated that it has over the past days been alerted to a number of incidents since the opening of the season, wherein a flock of Glossy Ibises and Honey- buzzards were targeted just outside Buskett, and Hobbies shot down near Zebbug.

Several injured birds seen in flight with gunshot injuries in past days include Marsh-harriers, a Greater Flamingo, and a European Roller, photographed by bird enthusiasts documenting bird migration.

Shot birds received by both BirdLife Malta and police over the past days include herons such as Little Egret and Night-heron, birds of prey such as Eleonora’s Falcons, Common Kestrel, Honey-buzzard and Hobby, Yellow-legged Gull, Hoopoe and Bee-eaters, it said.

BirdLife added that “reported incidents to police include the the shooting down of an Osprey at Girgenti on Wednesday, for which a police unit had to come all the way from Mellieha to attend to this report, arriving to the scene too late to apprehend the suspect.”