Another call for ban on spring hunting

BirdLife Malta has again called on the government to make it illegal to hunt in spring, saying this is an "infamous breach" of the European Union's Birds Directive.

The organisation reiterated the call in a statement to mark the close of the hunting season for turtle dove and quail.

The nine days until the end of May is the only time in Malta when no hunting or trapping of any form are allowed, it added.

BirdLife said Malta was the only country in the European Union that, one year after accession, allowed a hunting season throughout the entire span of the spring migration, when birds were returning to Europe to breed.

It said that illegal hunting this season was again the order of the day. Marsh harriers, honey buzzards, lesser kestrels, red-footed falcons, golden orioles, hoopoes, little egrets, purple herons, swallows and more were regularly in the sights of illegal hunters. Some of these species' status in Europe was either "vulnerable" or "in decline" and some of them were also species listed under Annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive, BirdLife said.

In the last few days, as migration decreased to a trickle, illegal hunters were reported turning their aim on flocks of swifts and the remaining late migrant birds, the organisation claimed.

It said that while illegal hunting remained a problem, this alone was not the sole reason for a ban on spring hunting. The hunting season in Malta practically precluded the possibility for turtle dove, quail and other birds to establish themselves as breeding birds.

Turtle dove and quail already bred successfully in captivity and it was evident that their absence as breeding birds in the wild in Malta was a direct result of the intense hunting and trapping activities in the islands, BirdLife said.