Birdlife reports illegal hunting for turtle dove before season opens

Illegal hunting of turtle-dove has been recorded daily in recent days, despite the official spring hunting season for this species not being open yet, BirdLife said on Monday.

It said that on Friday a Black Stork was also shot in the northwest of Malta and had not been seen since.

The NGO said it had collected evidence of at least four cases of illegal hunting early on Sunday, which are now expected to be prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Unit (EPU). In one of the most serious incidents, a hunter in Bidnija was seen shooting a turtle dove with a gun fitted with a silencer. Despite attempting to flee, officers of the Environment Protection Unit called to the site by BirdLife Malta retrieved the hidden weapon along with a dead turtle dove.

A similar case intercepted in the south of Malta could not be addressed by the EPU team, as they were fully occupied with the Bidnija case.

The NGO said unlawful trapping disguised as research was continuing without legal basis or oversight.

"The practice, framed as scientific research, is yet another veiled attempt to bypass EU law. The trapping of turtle doves during spring migration is expressly forbidden under the EU Birds Directive, and the same type of derogation was already blocked by the European Commission in 2011," Birdlife said, arguing that such hunting lacks legal standing and scientific credibility.

Birdlife also pointed out that according to regulations, spring hunting may only proceed if the previous season’s declared catches fell below a set threshold. But the data,  usually published by the Wild Birds Regulations Unit, had not been released. Past data has shown that only a small fraction of licensed hunters reported any activity at all, undermining the legal basis to justify the need for a spring season, it said.

Birdlife urged people to report hunting illegalities on 21347645/79255697 or via FB messenger to BirdLife Malta.