Although the 2019 autumn hunting season came to a close last Friday, BirdLife Malta said that “the hunting and trapping situation is in limbo following the illegal move in the Ministerial portfolio over which BirdLife Malta has taken legal action against the Government.

In a statement the eNGO stressed that the past five months of hunting and trapping were “characterised by illegalities and lack of enforcement as the figures for 2019 clearly show.”

The same period was also characterised by the trapping season which also came to a close earlier in January.

According to BirdLife it was the “second worst year for illegal hunting in the last seven years, whilst during the past months we also received nearly 400 reports from the public – an average of eight a day – in response to our #NoMoreCallers campaign tackling the rampant and illegal use of electronic bird callers.”

“The Government continues to ignore our call for the establishment of a Wildlife Crime Unit which was recommended more than a year ago to Clint Camilleri – at the time a Parliamentary Secretary – following unanimous approval at Ornis Committee level, said BirdLife.

It argued that “the hunting and trapping seasons were characterised by an Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) Police unit at its lowest-ever capacity in recent years, with zero backup from the Specialist Enforcement Branch within the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU).”

BirdLife Malta highlighted, what it said are salient points from the season including, “episodes of protected birds being killed – from the initial massacre of Greater Flamingos in August before the season opened, to the shooting of a flock of rare Short-toed Eagles in November, with all birds believed to have been shot dead.

“99 illegal hunting casualties retrieved by BirdLife Malta and police last year, making 2019 the second worst year in the past seven (since 2013) for illegal hunting. These numbers only represent the tip of the iceberg since many other shot birds are never found or end up in taxidermy collections.

“Widespread and unregulated use of electronic bird callers which led BirdLife Malta to launch the #NoMoreCallers public campaign to collect the necessary information about this illegal abuse so that following an analysis of the situation, action can be taken. In a month and a half we received nearly 400 reports from the public, an average of eight a day.

“Uncontrolled trapping of song birds which should be illegal following the landmark European Court of Justice judgement delivered two years ago transforming this year’s season into yet another smokescreen for the illegal trapping of song birds.

“This also puts Malta at risk of facing an escalation of the open Infringement Proceedings which the European Union has already put in place over the Song Thrush and Golden Plover trapping derogation.

“A failed game reporting system, with the authorities failing to have any form of control over legally hunted or trapped birds.

“Following the 2018 Game Reporting Data Report from WBRU including results from only 9% of hunters and trappers who bothered reporting any catches, this year’s trapping season miraculously reached the season’s quota of 700 trapped Golden Plover at the last few hours of the last day!”

BirdLife stressed that “in the present situation of a closed season, amid legal uncertainty on how hunting and trapping will be regulated, and enforcement capabilities stretched to their limits, support from the public and environmental NGOs remains crucial.”

BirdLife Malta thanked the public for their collaboration in the past months, particularly, it said, “in regard to the strong response we’ve had to our campaign against the illegal use of bird callers.”

All the information gathered will now be compiled into a report which BirdLife said will be sent to the European Commission. “We would also like to thank the general public for their support during the hunting season.”

BirdLife said that they have collected more than “50 illegally shot protected birds over the past 5 months, of which 17 were admitted into rehabilitation and successfully released back into the wild. Such results are only possible thanks to public support.”

BirdLife concluded by saying that it is appealing to the public “to remain vigilant to any illegality they may encounter during the closed season.”

Illegalities should be reported immediately to ALE Police on 119 and to BirdLife Malta on 2134 7645/6 (office hours) or 7925 5697 (emergency number).

Photo BirdLife Malta: “Shot Grey Heron retrieved in September, one of the 53 known illegal hunting casualties of the last autumn hunting season”

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