Over 240 illegal hunting incidents have been recorded during during this year´s Raptor Camp, BirdLife Malta has said. It also highlighted the fact “birds of prey remain Malta’s most targeted species as use of electronic callers spirals out of control.”

The NGO stated on Friday that the Raptor Camp has once again been instrumental in exposing illegal hunting in Malta with a total of 242 illegal hunting incidents recorded in less than a month between the 12th September and 5th October.

Despite operating with an average of only three teams a day, made up of 12 international and 16 local staff and volunteers, BirdLife Malta said that its teams recorded an average of ten illegalities every day.

Most of these cases, 72%, involved the illegal use of electronic callers – devices used to lure birds by broadcasting recorded calls. The NGO said that, “one in every five of these callers was found to be targeting protected species such as Stone Curlew (Eurasian Thick-knee), Grey Heron, and even Long-eared Owl.”

It noted that used mostly during the night and throughout the early hours of the morning, “many hunters have been observed switching on callers to attract species such as European Nightjar, only to turn them off by around 6:20am, a phenomenon seen across multiple areas and multiple days.”BirdLife Malta pointed out that “with environmental police units starting their field operations after the starting time of hunting hours, this practically guarantees no interception, as can be attested to multiple reports initiated by BirdLife Malta on the illegal use of bird callers which mostly ended in a negative result, except for one incident in the Naxxar area.”

It went on to argue that “this situation is exacerbated by a virtual absence of police units in the field, with Environmental Protection Police (EPU) numbering a single unit covering the entire island on some occasions – a far cry from previous years when up to six units would be deployed to cover the peak migration period of birds of prey.”

While police officers responded to most calls made by BirdLife Malta teams reporting illegalities, it noted that “their average response time throughout the period reached an astounding 51 minutes, reflecting at times the difficulty in responding to simultaneous reports filed by multiple BirdLife teams, other NGOs and members of the public at the same time.”

BirdLife Malta said that “as has become tragically routine, birds of prey once again bore the brunt of illegal hunting. Most observed incidents targeted Marsh Harriers and Honey-buzzards – both strictly protected species under Maltese and European law.”

Of the 19 shot birds retrieved by BirdLife Malta since the start of the season, it said that a third were Common Kestrels, with at least another six other casualties collected by the police and other authorities, including highly protected species such as Eurasian Dotterel and near-threatened species such as Audouin’s Gull.

BirdLife Malta said it has over the past days appealed to high police officials to increase field presence during migration, requesting an increase in officers deployed to the Environmental Protection Unit to be able to ensure more coverage during the early hours of the morning and across the islands.“With the hunting season intensifying in the next weeks, the use of bird callers is expected to reach further uncontrollable proportions as hunters abuse of the limited time and span of enforcement units to blast away callers audible even from certain urban areas,” stated BLM.

“We are now attending to reports of protected birds found shot by members of the public on a daily basis, in what is a tangible collapse in enforcement capabilities that benefits only those intent on breaking the law,” commented Nicholas Barbara, Head of Conservation at BirdLife Malta.

He noted that meanwhile, “over the past days, we have seen politicians bending over backwards to laud the hunting lobby, but not a single word has been spared at condemning illegalities or supporting police in strengthening enforcement.”

Photos BLM: A Honey-buzzard with dangling leg; Shot Common Kestrel from Nadur, Gozo with eye injury; and Marsh Harrier with evident gunshot damage to the wing at Buskett

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