BirdLife Malta has said in a statement that it agrees with CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter) that turtle doves bred in captivity should have a closed ring.

“The only way to determine between birds bred in captivity and those trapped from the wild illegally is to amend the law,” it said.

The NGO pointed out that since this bird is also a huntable species in autumn, the law does not punish anyone found in possession of live turtle doves.

BirdLife argued that “those trapping hundreds, if not thousands, of this vulnerable species are using this legal loophole and the only way to control this abuse is by changing the law accordingly to have breeders place closed rings on the young.”

According to the NGO, “there is no doubt that a substantial amount of persons trap turtle doves from the wild with large cages. Although this is illegal every year a number of these cages are found in various areas in Malta and Gozo.”

BirdLife Malta went on to urge hunting lobby groups FKNK (Federation for Hunting and Conservation) and KSU (Kaccaturi San Ubertu) “to understand that this would benefit their genuine members and that the only ones that would complain would be those trapping turtle doves illegally. We also urge the Government to address this situation.”

On Wednesday, BirdLife Malta said that it recovered a turtle dove which was “witnessed being shot down by a member of the public who was walking with her children in Madliena. Less than 24 hours later, we found a shot Turtle Dove on FKNK-claimed land in Mizieb.”

The NGO argued that “although the season is supposedly open only for Quail, as widely anticipated by BirdLife Malta, it continues to serve as a smokescreen for hunters to illegally shoot the red-listed turtle dove.”

BirdLife Malta said that with these two latest illegal hunting casualties, the total of known illegally shot protected birds for 2019 now stands at 26.

Photograph: BirdLife Malta

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