Poachers target rare waterbirds, Police make arrest, say CABS

CABS has said that over the weekend its volunteers filmed two trappers who “tried to catch rare Eurasian Curlews, Black-tailed Godwits and Black-winged Stilts in Zejtun and on the Delimara peninsula.”

According to CABS the men used plastic decoys and illegal bird callers imitating plovers and the three protected species mentioned above. CABS said that its team reported both cases to the police who apprehended one man and seized the lures as well as two sets of clap nets. “The trapper is expected to face trial soon.” CABS said that during “the operation in Zejtun one man threatened its volunteers with a bludgeon.”

“Furthermore individuals unknown obstructed the passage of a police car by placing a load of boulders on the countryside road leading to the trapping site. Both incidents have been recorded on video,” CABS said.

It added that according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species the populations of Black-tailed Godwits and Eurasian Curlews are decreasing. Both species are listed as “Near threatened” by the IUCN and are strictly protected in Malta.

CABs concluded, that the Black-winged Stilt is a rare breeding bird on Malta with only a few breeding records in the last years. In the last week two hunters have been fined a total of 10.000 Euros for shooting a Black-winged Stilt in Xemxija.

Photograph by CABS: During operation in Zejtun “one man threatened its volunteers with a bludgeon.”