On the 18th May 2011, a flock of approximately 210 White Storks (Ciconia Ciconia) arrived in Malta. The flock was immediately greeted by gunfire, which continued throughout the following days the flock spent in Malta. The birds had all departed Malta by the 22nd May. By this time, BirdLife Malta had witnessed several birds gunned down, received shot White Storks and seen a number of birds in flight with gunshot injuries. Members of the public have been outraged by this incident, sharing their experiences and publicly condemning the events through BirdLife Malta’s website. Visit this page of our website to find out what happened and how you can take action against this annual illegal slaughter of protected birds. http://www.birdlifemalta.org/Content/hunting/illegalhunting/whitestorks2011/1108/
For more info about Birdlife Malta visit - www.birdlifemalta.org
Not sure what can be done to solve this problem,nothing seems to have much effect on the shooters.My first thought has always been to boycott the island which relies heavily on tourism but other views say that would just leave the shooters able to get on with their barbaric "sport"in peace.The Maltese government seem powerless to control the gunmen so it must be up to the pressure put on internationally.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Give the birds guns! Even the odds a bit...
Honestly, I can't really see any change despite all the pressure and the EU(seless) own directives making spring hunting illegal, and quite frankly I think it was a mistake allowing Malta into the EU until they had shown that they were taking action on spring hunting of migrating birds.
I personally wouldn't set foot on Malta, I'd rather my tourist money went to support an economy that wasn't engaged in slaughtering spring migrants. Reward the good behaviour rather than the bad and all that. If tourists still go the government is in a win win situation - they have happy hunters and tourist money coming in. I'm sure some of the big businesses would soonmake their voices heard if a boycott really started to hit their pockets, but most people don't care enough to do that.
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
KatTai said: Give the birds guns! Even the odds a bit...
If anyone is like me and saves all their old magazines dig out Birdwatching magazine for May 2010,Chris Packham did a good article on the problems in Malta it dosn't sound as though it has improved.