italy

Hi Petrirosso

Welcome to the forum from me too. 

Sadly this isn't just confined to Italy (btw a country I absolutely love and visit whenever I can).  This also goes on in Greece, Malta, Spain, France (officially illegal) to name a few (Cyprus more well known) - all for the sake of cuizine.  People will pay a small fortune to taste this sort of delicacy.

On holiday this year I spent a fortnight on a greek island.  One day we took a walk in a place called the "The valley of the nightingales".  We didn't see one nightingale which wasn't surprising as it was past the season in which they were in that particular area but we didn't see or hear a bird.  I remember mentioning it at the time to my OH that here we are in the thick of a forest and not one bird could be heard.  I believe I saw a trap but didn't know what it was for.  There were many trees with contraptions not for the trapping of birds but to do with the treatment of the trees and also to monitor bees so assumed it was to do with that.  After reading some months ago about what was going on I realise now what the trap was meant for - I feel really bad that I didn't pull it down when I saw it. 

Hi Petrirosso and welcome from me also. Like the majority on this thread, I commend you for bringing this to our attention. We cannot address these issues if we don't know about them and if we choose to ignore them simply because they offend our sensibilities then such atrocities will only continue.

Welcome Petrirosso! Have been fortunate to spend just a long weekend in Italy in 2006! A beautiful place and I saw some lovely birds including jays and hoopoes. Hope to return one day to see MORE wildlife.

It is very unfortunate though that this hunting goes on on the continent and I can only echo the comments made before me on this thread! Maybe with more voices, louder voices, someone will finally listen and things will start to change... I am optimistic that there are far more of us out there (wordwide) that want to see an end to this than there are hunters! Surely we will win... eventually? I too would sign a petition and know many others I could pass it on to that would too!

It is a horrible picture and upsetting but needs to be seen to make more people aware, and make the voice louder!

Hi Petrirosso,

So glad you've joined the forum, as it gives me the opportunity to ask something which has been bugging me since a trip to Italy in September. Basically, it's this:

In Italy, is it legal to shoot birds, during the hunting season, using caged birds - thrushes in the cases we saw - as lures? I tried to research this when I got home, but couldn't find a conclusive answer.

If it isn't legal, I can produce photos (of the setting up of the cages, not the shooting itself) and details of the location.

Many thanks, Sue   

Unknown said:

Hi Petrirosso,

So glad you've joined the forum, as it gives me the opportunity to ask something which has been bugging me since a trip to Italy in September. Basically, it's this:

In Italy, is it legal to shoot birds, during the hunting season, using caged birds - thrushes in the cases we saw - as lures? I tried to research this when I got home, but couldn't find a conclusive answer.

If it isn't legal, I can produce photos (of the setting up of the cages, not the shooting itself) and details of the location.

Many thanks, Sue   

Hi Sue, if you click on this link http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/illegalhunting/italy.asp

it will give you all the information you need.

Regards Buzzard

http://www.lipu.it/tu_petizione_cacciaselvaggia.htm

I apologise for the 'English'  I've used the google translate tool and its not perfect but this is the Lipu.it petion.Caccia is Italian for hunting.

I am sorry to say that I do not think Silvio Berlusconi is capable of acting decently under any circumstances but its at least worth a try! At the moment Italian politians are facing millions of euros in fines for not complying with European legislation on the protection of birds and their habitats. Are they bothered? No not really.

Another action that I have taken quite effectively is to send a letter to your European MEP asking them to raise the issue in the european parliament.

Hi Petrirosso,

Welcome to the forums and I salute you for bringing such a contentious issue to the community! Of course we also welcome imput from anywhere with an interest in birds and wildlife and threads like this can help educate many of us Brits on what can be found in different regions.

The RSPB is the UK branch of BirdLife International which is a global partnership of organisations working in over 100 countries worldwide, to improve the quality of life for birds, for other wildlife, and for people. Read this page and help us halt illegal hunting. 

With regard the legal issues relating to trapping birds in Italy, the relevant info is here.

LloydScott, thanks for the links, which involves quite some reading and information. I can remember we had a discussion on the situation in Malta earlier this year. My decision is a donation to the RSPB section which deals with this on the International scale and some serious letter writing to those drawing very large salaries in the European Parliament.

Petrirosso, thanks once again for raising this issue and I will sign the petition.

Thanks for your replies. The answer seems to be, then, that trapping and using thrushes as decoys is probably legal per se within Italy, but that Italy is in breach of the Birds Directive for allowing it. I can't be sure what birds they shot, as it would have been pretty dangerous to be up there on opening day - I doubt it was wildfowl though.  

This is what we saw, 2 days before the start of the season - walking along a ridge above Lake Iseo, Lombardy, we passed about 10 of these "shooting galleries" during the morning...... 

Ciao Petrirosso ho firmato la petizione

Well I think I have, the website took me on a bit of a detour - thanks for all of this Petrirosso.  We need to know!