Maltese poachers travel to Scotland, shoot protected birds

This is very sad, and as you say, a shocker. I am speechless.

This is the first time I have heard of this,quite distressing we have enough problems with wildlife crime without importing it,somebody in the U.K.must provide the shooters with guns as they surely would not get through security with the weapons required.

I am having great difficulty in getting my head around the paltry fines, they are hardly likely to act as a deterrent by the sound of things.

Caroline in Jersey

It's a pity we can't intercept them taking the birds out of the UK then our courts could impose heavier penalties. You get the impression that the Maltese government don't take this sort of crime very seriously or they would stamp out the illegal hunting that goes on in their own country.

You are quite right TJ but even our courts do not impose serious fines.

Hi-

when Malta wanted in to the EU etc  objections were raised on this issue and the RSPB was asked if it would use it's clout to oppose the entry but they declined.

Malta were supposedly going to clean up their act within a certain time.  

S

The Maltese hunting lobby is very large, powerful and vocal, and fuelled by a massive sense of entitlement and righteous indignation. Unfortunately the government seems to be very weak! Of course, at least some of these hunters will confine themselves to legal shooting, but the problem of illegal hunting is huge. On our camp, we recorded dozens of illegalities every day.

The hunters' resentment towards BirdLife Malta and also CABS, a German organisation that comes to Malta to record and prevent illegal hunting, is tremendous. BirdLife Malta has a couple of tiny nature reserves on Malta, which are protected by high fences but are still regularly broken into and vandalised. In 2007 vandals destroyed 3,000 newly planted trees in one night on the Foresta 2000 reserve.

When we were there we heard stories from hunters about travelling to the UK and shooting Red Kites, and that the breeding female Golden Eagle in the Lakes was killed by a Maltese hunter. No way of knowing if it's true. But if the attitudes we encountered are typical, acts like the one reported in the first post are as much about revenge against the countries that have 'interfered' with the hunters' fun as they are about shooting birds for a collection.

I had heard the story about the Haweswater Eagle a couple of years back in a pub in Threlkeld from an old shepherd.I just put it down to "beer talk" but maybe he was right.Someone must be supplying the firearms for these people so maybe the hunt should start there or maybe it did but it led to a dead end

These people should be BANNED from ever entering Scotland, or anywhere else in the UK ever again.  There is enough scum in this country without allowing more convicted wildlife criminals in.  Bad enough what goes on in their own country without them going to other countries to slaughter protected species as well!