The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) today published for the first time details of the operation of a model aircraft mounted with cameras to detect illegal trapping sites in April.

CABS said “the hunting association FKNK, that has published numerous statements on this matter over the past few days has, according to CABS, deliberately misled the public and simultaneously attempted to intimidate witnesses and opponents of illegal hunting and trapping on a large scale.”

“The public stance taken by the FKNK on the TV feature on illegal hunting in Malta and the filming of illegal active trapping installations from the air is a potpourri of ill-founded allegations, xenophobia, intimidation of those with other views and empty bluster,” states CABS board member David Conlin.

He continued, “To put this storm in a teacup in proper perspective a few facts might help. The so-called ‘drone’ is a model aircraft made of polystyrene and weighing some 1.5 kilogrammes. It is powered by a battery-driven propeller and equipped with high resolution cameras, freely available on the open market. None of its components are of a military nature and comparisons with events that took place nearly 70 years ago are far-fetched and invidious.

“The device was brought to Malta by the RTL TV station in order to take birds’ eye view pictures of illegal trapping sites. It was operated by a Swiss electronics engineer under the auspices of RTL. The role of CABS was to advise the operator on possible locations of illegal trapping sites as well as to analyse the footage filmed by the device. During the operation of the aircraft the police were present and, as the illegal active sites were detected, conducted the necessary follow-up investigations such as seizure of nets and illegally trapped birds,” David said.

The Committee Against Bird Slaughter said that it “will continue in future to monitor and report illegal killing and taking of protected bird species, using all legal means and in close cooperation with the police and its Maltese supporters.

“As the ‘Eye in the Sky’ has proved its effectiveness in detecting illegal trapping installations, CABS plan to bring several of their own devices to Malta and offer their use to support the police in their duties of combating poaching wildlife crime on the islands.”

“We have entrusted a Maltese lawyer’s office with the task of obtaining all the necessary permits and permissions,” Conlin addded.

CABS said that “in response to other ill-conceived allegations by Mr. Lino Farrugia in his statement yesterday, CABS wishes to make it quite clear that at no time was the Committee reimbursed by the Maltese Government for flights to Malta for witnesses. CABS also refute and regret the untruthful statement concerning a Gozo resident, who is neither an official representative of CABS, nor has he any connection with the use of the model aircraft.”

According to CABS “this person, who has been an open opponent of illegal hunting long before their organisation began operations on the island, has recently and in the past had threats made openly against himself and his family by hunters.”

David Conlin commented further, “The violence against birdwatchers shown in the RTL feature, as well as the offensively and xenophobic attack on CABS, RTL and their Maltese supporters, are strongly reminiscent of the methods employed by certain illegal organisations against ‘traitors’ who break the code of secrecy or make public the illegal activities of their members.”

“The call by the FKNK yesterday for the sacking of the curator of the Natural History Museum on Mdina, who spoke out against illegal hunting in the RTL documentary, is in his opinion yet another example of this type of aggressive information management,” David concluded.

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