Hunting ban leads to a reduction in illegal hunting – BirdLife

Illegal hunting incidents recorded this year were down by 60% in comparison to last year’s autumn hunting season, BirdLife Malta said.

As the three-week ban to the autumn hunting season came to an end today, BirdLife revealed a significant decrease in the targeting of protected species.

The organisation monitored the first days of the hunting season and the subsequent days of the hunting ban that started on 20 September, through its annual Raptor Camp, with volunteers recording a total of 98 illegal hunting incidents between the 15 September and 6 October.

BirdLife said this contrasts greatly to a total 236 incidents recorded during the same period last year.

The majority of the incidents included hunting during the days of the ban, with shots in certain localities recorded during the early morning hours.

A flock of Grey Herons at Delimara on 25 September (Photo by Joe Cockram)

Commenting on the three-week ban, BirdLife Malta’s  Conservation Manager Nicholas Barbara said “the fact that this ban has resulted in less illegal hunting incidents confirms that open hunting seasons act as a cover for more illegal hunting. The end result has been less protected species being shot, and a spectacular peaceful migration of birds of all kinds.”

Cases of shot injured birds found by members of the public also showed a stark reduction with 8 birds recovered since the start of the hunting season on 1 September, in comparison to 22 cases last year.

Witnessed incidents of shooting at protected species accounted to just 9 in comparison to 55 last year, including the targeting of a Short-toed eagle at Dwejra reported last week.

BirdLife Malta reiterated its call to government to re-introduce the hunting curfew after 15:00 during the peak raptor migration between 15 September and 7 October, following the hasty amendments done to the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations last June, ignoring the recommendations of the Ornis Committee.

“Hunting bans clearly decrease the likelihood of birds being illegally targeted. The events of the past days demand a revision to regulations and a balancing act between deterrence and better enforcement,” Barbara said.

BirdLife Malta Executive Director Steve Micklewright added that it is encouraging to see that the government took “the right decision” to close the season when faced with the number of illegalities.

“We now hope that the government increases further the fines for cases of illegal shooting of protected birds, reintroduces the afternoon curfew during the autumn hunting season and works on establishing a wildlife crime unit that can improve the detection and prosecution rate of targeting of protected species”.