“Criminals caught shooting protected birds will find no refuge amongst law-abiding community,” the Government said.
The Government said in a statement today that it “condemns the hideous act of shooting of protected storks that occurred yesterday and has deployed the necessary resources to investigate the incident and to bring perpetrators to justice.”
“In a drive to stamp out illegal targeting of protected species, last October the Government revamped national legislation and doubled applicable penalties for illegal shooting of protected birds.”
“Whilst, as amply documented in the enforcement report published last Saturday, multiple improvements in enforcement occurred over the past few months, the latest incident shows that some rogue individuals are still undeterred from committing such brazen crimes,” said Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes in reaction to the storks’ shooting incident.
“Therefore Government will do whatever is necessary to not only bring perpetrators to justice, but to also eliminate the very possibility of such acts occurring in the future”, Parliamentary Secretary added.
In the next few days, the Government will publish further amendments to the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations (S.L.504.71). These amendments will include a provision that any shooting or trapping for protected species listed in Schedules I and IX of these Regulations, even in the case of a first time offence, will automatically incur penalty comprising of €5,000 fine, and/or imprisonment for one year, as well as permanent revocation of license and confiscation of corpus delicti. In case of second or subsequent offence, the applicable penalty will go up to €10,000, confiscation, and/or imprisonment for two years.
The Government said that “these measures represent a ten-fold increase in the presently applicable minimum fine for first time and subsequent offences, whilst permanent revocation of license, and imprisonment, which, at present, only apply to repeat offenders, will also apply in the case of a first time offence in such cases.”
“The message is clear and simple: any targeting birds listed in Schedules I and IX is not tolerated. Perpetrators can run, but they will not be able to hide for long, as the entire legal hunting and trapping community will stand behind the Government on our measures. These criminals will be condemned and rejected and will not find refuge amongst the law-abiding community,” Parliamentary Secretary said.
The Government said it is also “taking further steps to increase field surveillance. Among other measures, the Police will be deploying the recently acquired specialised unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle, which will greatly increase anti-poaching monitoring capabilities.”
The Government added that it is also “considering deployment of wardens and plain clothes surveillance of the countryside in addition to routine uniformed patrols. Furthermore, preparations are underway to establish a specialised training course for enforcement personnel. Once established, this training course will result in a core group of officers being professionally trained in disciplines related to wildlife crime surveillance and prevention. “
These officers will subsequently form the core of the proposed Wildlife Crime Investigation Unit which will be set up within the Malta Police Force, the Government statement concluded.