The CABS Bird Guards left Malta at the weekend after 9 days of monitoring bird migration and illegal hunting in spring. According to the German-based conservation organisation, the spring hunting ban imposed by the Maltese government probably contributed to the fact that in 2009 much fewer protected birds returning to their breeding grounds were shot than in previous years.

Equipped with spotting scopes and video cameras, the Bird Guards filed official complaints against 8 persons who were either observed shooting at protected birds or patrolling the countryside armed with shotguns. In addition two trapping sites with freshly erected nets were discovered; one near Fort St. Leonardo (Marsascala) and another on Friday some 150 meters below the Red Tower on Marfa Ridge.

The four CABS teams also registered some 354 shots – mainly in the early hours. In comparison the four teams deployed last spring registered 1.350 shots in a 9 day period. “This is a siginificant decrease. It shows that the majority of hunters clearly respect the hunting ban” comments CABS President Heinz Schwarze, “this is an important signal.” Whether this was due to weather conditions or a reduced passage of migrants, the presence of the Bird Guards or compliance with the law by hunters is not clear. “I believe it was a combination of all these factors” says Schwarze.

Nonetheless organised gangs of poachers still have a large negative effect on the migrating birds in spring. Within only 2 days (26.-27 April), CABS teams observed the shooting down of 4 protected raptors.

Apart from regular verbal abuse and attempts at intimidation aimed at the CABS members there were only two serious incidents during the camp. Last week a poacher fleeing from a CABS team fired a warning shot in their vicinity and on Saturday a team was stalked by a car (with the registration number ‘GUN’) for almost an hour in the Bahrija area. “Every time we halted to observe the stalker also stopped behind us and made a call on his mobile,” reports Schwarze. The incident and registration number was reported to the police.

CABS have announced their intention to mount operations again in autumn, this time with a larger team of up to 30 international volunteer activists. A pleasing development is that a number of Maltese have contacted CABS over the past few weeks with offers of practical and financial support.

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