CABS has said that despite a large police and conservationist presence, hunters on the Delimara Peninsula fired more than 300 shots at Turtle Doves and raptors this morning. “The shots came mainly from the Ta´ Lombardi valley and the Ta´ Ngraw area to its rear. We believe that several dozen persons were responsible,” states CABS president Heinz Schwarze, who witnessed the massacre from Tal-Munxar with one of his teams. CABS has said that it has since received information that two poachers were apprehended by the police in Ta´ Lombardi valley this morning

CABS further reported that they had documented the illegal shooting on video, including the shooting at a Hobby and a Montagu´s Harrier. Schwarze continues “We unfortunately did not manage to get footage of a poacher with a weapon in his hand.”

They went on to say that the shooters were clearly aware that they were under observation and concealed themselves behind walls and small clumps of trees. They had look-out posts with mobile phones or walkie-talkies everywhere, and these passed on the position of our teams and the police to the poachers in the valley” reports Bird Guard Leonardo Petrelli from Catania. “What we saw this morning was organised crime at its best,” adds Petrelli.

“In addition to the CABS team an ALE patrol as well as a mobile team from the district police witnessed this morning’s excesses in Delimara. It is not known if they were able to arrest any of the offenders.”

“Another CABS team was deployed in the Selmun Palace area in the north of the island this morning. Apart from 5 shots heard they reported all quiet in the northern part of the island.”

The Committee concluded by saying that it had received information that the police had caught a poacher red-handed hunting with a shotgun and in possession of ‘hundreds’ of cartridges near Hal-Far this morning.

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