BirdLife Malta said that Malta needs to solve the illegal hunting problem and has urged the Government to reinstate the verification process of stuffed protected bird collections that had benefitted from two amnesties in 1997 and 2003.

The organisation pointed out that during these amnesties, hunters had declared over 520,000 stuffed protected birds.

In a statement on Monday, BirdLife said that, “during the initial verification process by MEPA officials, it became evident that most hunters had declared more birds than what they actually had, and this was purposely done so that those who still wanted to hunt protected birds after the amnesties would still be in time to list them under the forgiven lists.”

It stated that, “he verification process with collections being tagged stopped around six years ago, just a year or so after the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) was created. This means that hunters who have an unverified collection and shoot down protected birds can still include these birds in their collections and get away scot-free.”

The organisation argued that “this led to a rampant increase in illegal hunting as clearly evidenced by the numbers of illegally shot protected birds in the past four years (2018-2021) with the number at 523 as verified by the government vet, when compared to the previous four (2014-2017) when the number was 190.”These figures are only the “tip of the iceberg,” BirdLife said, “since nearly all shot protected birds are retrieved by the hunters themselves, but they are indicative of the drastic upward trend.”

According to BirdLife Malta, “apart from the increase in illegal hunting of protected birds, the lacuna created when the verification process was halted has also fuelled the illegal trade of wildlife in Malta both from abroad and locally.”

It stressed that, “illegal hunters are making big money from selling shot protected birds to those who have their collections still unverified, and hence in time to include them. Such trading is not only illegal under the EU Birds Directive, but also under the EU Wildlife Trade regulations.”

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stated,”Malta has a responsibility to solve the illegal hunting of protected birds. While enforcement remains crucial, it is also crucial that the verification process by a team of experts which the Government already has available, is reinstated.”

He added that, “the Prime Minister and his Cabinet need to understand that the only ones benefitting from this delay are those that break the law.”

Photo: • Confiscated illegally stuffed birds

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