Hello folks,
Mr aiki and I recently got back from a week in Malta, where we worked on BirdLife Malta's Springwatch camp along with dozens of others of a wide range of ages and nationalities. I was pretty well-informed about the situation there before I went, but was still shocked by some of the stuff we saw and heard about. There are some 12,000 registered hunters on the islands and nearly 5,000 bird trappers, an incredibly high density (total population on the islands is about 400,000). While some hunters are undoubtedly law-abiding and only shoot the designated quarry species in the open season, many are not and are totally obsessed with killing as many birds of as many different species as possible, throughout the year. Large and spectacular species, such as raptors and herons, are particularly sought after as trophies. This is killing for killing's sake.
Malta has, unsurprisingly, a very impoverished breeding bird fauna. Many species which could and should nest on the islands do not, because of this intense persecution. However, the islands' position on the central Mediterranean flyway means that migrating birds do visit, often in large numbers, on their way to or from northern Europe. Some may be UK-bound. The Springwatch camp (and its autumn equivalent, Raptorwatch) exists to try to deter the illegal hunters, by maintaining a visible presence in the countryside, and by taking video evidence of any illegal hunting activity observed.
During our week we saw many migrants including Golden Oriole, Collared Flycatcher, Montagu's Harrier, Lesser Kestrel and Red-rumped Swallow. Sadly, nearly half of all the birds of prey we observed had obvious gunshot injuries to their legs or wings. All of the teams heard numerous shots fired throughout the day (this was the close season so there should have been none) filmed illegal hunting on numerous occasions and experienced daily abuse and attempts at intimidation from hunters.
Many birders boycott Malta in the hope of shaming the government into tackling this problem. BirdLife Malta takes a different stance, saying that the more birders active in the Maltese countryside, the more rattled the hunters will be and the more they are forced to leave their guns at home. The situation is really bad right now but the efforts of BirdLife Malta do make a real difference.
I've done some blog posts about it here if anyone wants to read more: http://robandmazza.blogspot.com/ and the BirdLife Malta website is here: http://www.birdlifemalta.org/
Thanks!
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
Well done aiki,
I congratulate you on doing your bit. Sadly, we've got a fair few of these gutless scumbags in the UK as well.
MC:-)
Congratulations on your efforts. Many petitions have been sent to the Maltese Government in the hope that they will stop this barbaric action. The EU should use their powers and stand up to these people. Lets hope that with the help of the RSPB and people like yourself they do just that.
Of all creatures, man is the most detestable, he is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. ~ Mark Twain
Well done aiki. The Maltese government are too weak to implement the law (they don't want to lose their votes) and the EU is proving it's reluctance to really act. Thank you for your report and for your efforts in Malta.
I can only echo everyone else's comments! Let's hope that something is done sooner rather than later (good article by Chris Packham on this in the May issue of "birdwatching")
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
Thanks everyone :)
There will be an article in Birdwatch sometime soonish as well!