BirdLife Malta said in a statement today that in the first week of Raptor Camp it has not seen the increased policing in the countryside promised by the government at the beginning of the month and illegal hunters continued to get away with shooting protected birds.

“We have seen this week that when police have a visible presence hunters are deterred from committing illegalities,” said Raptor Camp coordinator, Christian Debono, “but as soon as patrols are absent, so is the incentive for hunters to exercise self-control and refrain from shooting at protected birds.”BirdLife pointed out that the numbers of raptors migrating through Malta this week had been relatively low due to a strong north-westerly Mistral wind, “but it was still seeing and receiving reports from members of public of other protected birds, such as Bee-eaters and swallows, being targeted, and had recovered several shot protected birds, including Honey Buzzards, Marsh Harriers and Night Herons.”

Birdlife continued, “while birdwatchers and Raptor Camp volunteers have noted the presence of mounted police in the Buskett area and the secondment of Armed Forces of Malta personnel and vehicles to form units with Administrative Law Enforcement officers, the number of patrols and officers observed suggests there have been far fewer resources allocated to enforcement of the hunting season than a statement by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Animal Rights last month had indicated.”BLM added, “Raptor Camp teams monitoring the hunting season visited an average of 8 different locations around Malta in the morning and afternoon between the 15th and 20th September and recorded a maximum of just twelve officers patrolling in five vehicles in any one shift. Although this represents a small increase over last year, it was still a long way shy of the 80-100 officers promised by the Parliamentary Secretariat.”

“While the police response to reported incidents has been positive, the low number of officers patrolling the countryside this week is disappointing given that increasing numbers of police was supposed to be one of the measures taken to offset the extension of hunting hours in the afternoon,” said Mr Debono.

“Such a small number of patrols cannot possibly police hunting across the island adequately to prevent protected birds being killed,” Mr Debono continued. “As BirdLife and our volunteers at these camps have learned through experience, gathering sufficient evidence to secure prosecution for serious crimes like shooting a protected bird is difficult enough when you are right on the spot and have several eye witnesses.”

BLM said that “earlier this week, three Raptor Camp volunteers witnessed two Honey Buzzards being shot down in quick succession in the south of the island just before 4pm. Before they could even take any photos or record video they saw one of the shooters pick up the bird and disappear with it. They immediately called the police, who arrived at the location twenty minutes later.”

“Despite searching the area where the birds had been shot down and interviewing several of the suspects, including the man who had been seen picking up the bird, the police didn’t find the body and no arrest has been made,” BLM concluded.

Photos – Raptor Camp volunteers watch a soaring Honey Buzzard: Photo by Robert Spanring. Middle photo – A Honey Buzzard flies directly overhead at Buskett this week. Bottom One of the shot Honey Buzzards recovered by BLM: Photo by Rupert Masefield.

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