Illegal hunting condemned

BirdLife Malta said it has received several reports of illegal shooting of birds by hunters during the close season which started on May 22.

Among others, reports concerned the shooting of turtle doves and collared doves, disrupting their breeding.

BirdLife Malta said that in spite of the drastic decline in the breeding population of turtle doves in Europe in recent years, Malta still allowed hunting of these birds during spring.

And to add insult to injury the few turtle doves that escaped the spring barrage were gunned down in the close season, it said.

It added that a similar fate awaited the collared dove which has spread from the east and is now quite common in Europe.

In recent years, this bird has been reaching the Maltese shores in small numbers, particularly in late spring and summer.

But most of these are also shot within a short time.

The Maltese islands are probably the only country in Europe and North Africa where the collared dove does not breed as yet and this was due to illegal hunting in spring and summer, BirdLife Malta said.

BirdLife Malta highlighted the need for a proper, well-equipped law enforcement police squad and reiterated its call for a total ban on hunting and trapping in spring.

info@birdlifemalta.org