The Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) has “strongly condemned” BirdLife Malta’s latest campaign to destroy Maltese and Gozitan trappers, “#CitizensAGAINSTtrapping [1],” describing it as “misleading, provocative and an attempt to undermine traditions and the Maltese socio-cultural laws.”
FKNK, in a statement on Monday, claimed that “the campaign that calls on citizens to take action against songbird trapping is not only an attack on the practice itself, but also a direct challenge to the Maltese Government and the FKNK’s support for the “Finch Research Programme”
“The Maltese government probably expected more gratitude for the hundreds of thousands of euros from the taxes paid by the Maltese that it gives to BirdLife every year, while the FKNK, whose members pay hundreds of thousands of euros in taxes every year for hunting and trapping licenses and related miscellaneous expenses and purchases,” the group said.
FKNK also claimed that “the campaign is aimed at Maltese citizens and not necessarily Maltese, as BirdLife is engaging and possibly financing foreign supporters who are unfamiliar and insensitive to the socio-cultural heritage of hunting and trapping in Malta.”
The FKNK said that it “openly challenges BirdLife Malta to provide evidence to support its claim that last year more than 51,400 birds of prey were caught, a speculative figure rather than a fact.”
In addition, the FKNK questioned the accuracy of the trap locations on the BirdLife map, and claimed that many of the coordinates provided are “inaccurately plotted.”
The group stated that “one of the main issues of concern is the legality and safety of BirdLife’s call for citizen intervention. BirdLife is encouraging citizens to report any sighting of finches in a cage or in a net that is without a closed ring.”
However, the FKNK claimed that “verifying the presence of a ring on a live bird requires a close, hands-on inspection, which only the police and authorised officers are allowed to do.”
The FKNK argued that “no BirdLife activist, CABS, MRU or ordinary citizen is authorised in this way. Therefore, citizens who respect the law should be warned that if they act otherwise this could lead to illegalities of trespassing, misrepresentation of rights, or even harassment of legitimate trappers.”
In response to the BirdLife campaign, the FKNK encouraged trappers “to report any inspection or unauthorised interference to the police in Malta or Gozo.”
File photo: BirdLife Malta