Photos by CABS – Two of the three men convicted for illegal bird trapping in Fomm ir-Rih today. One of them wears a skull-face-mask while collecting the net, while the other one hides his face with a white neckerchief and has cages with live birds in his hand. The third photo shows a live Linnet decoy at an illegal trapping site.

CABS has said that the law court in Valletta this week heard 7 cases of poachers accused of illegally trapping birds during the closed season, or offering wild-caught birds for sale.

The NGO in a statement said that it has reported all the cases were reported to the police and ended with a conviction and the revocation of the hunting and trapping licences of the defendants.

CABS president Heinz Schwarze said, “we hope that these successful prosecutions will serve as a strong deterrent and we are pleased that our intensive efforts to bring these criminals to justice are being rewarded.”

Three men, who were filmed in March 2017 trapping finches with a clap net in Fomm ir Rih, were involved with the first case

The court heard that one of the accused wore a white skull mask, another covered his face with a neckerchief when operating the illegal site, and one tried to hide.

The men kept their faces hidden until leaving the trapping site, when CABS said that its video evidence enabled the police to identify them.

The NGO said that all three men were found guilty and received a €1,600 fine. The court also ordered the revocation of their hunting and trapping licenses for three years.

The in two separate cases, the same trapper was found guilty of illegally trapping Golden Plovers at San Martin during night-time, using an illegal bird caller and then subsequently offering wild-caught plovers for sale on the internet.

This case was also reported to the police by CABS, whose volunteers discovered the trapping site and provided the authorities with evidence of his illegal sale activities.

Magistrate Anthony Vella, after hearing the evidence, ordered him to pay a fine of €700 and suspended his hunting and trapping licence for two years.

A €1,000 fine was handed to a bird trapper at Burmarrad, he also had his licences revoked for two years after he was found guilty of illegally trapping Golden Plovers during night hours in December 2016.

CABS noted that during the hearing the trappers’ lawyer “tried to prevent the CABS witness testifying by falsely accusing her of trespassing,” This was despite the fact that the court had acquitted her last year after it was proved she was assisting police with their investigation, said CABS.

A bird trapper from Maghtab was the last case. He had to take responsibility for trapping finches without the necessary permits in November 2016.

CABS said that his illegal trapping site was discovered during a CABS aerial survey and later reported to the police, who subsequently caught the man red-handed. He got a €1,000 fine and a two year license suspension.

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