by Juan Ameen

Members of Birdlife Malta and international ornithologists participating in the Raptor Monitoring Camp yesterday called on the government to clamp down on illegal hunting and beef up the Administration and Law Enforcement Unit (ALE) within the police force.

Birdlife Malta Executive Director Tolga Temuge said that during the camp, the volunteers witnessed the killing and shooting down of 16 different species of protected birds.

"On Thursday the team posted at Girgenti saw three honey buzzards, two marsh harriers and one common kestrel shot down. On Wednesday, we heard 13 separate shots fired at one honey buzzard before it was finally hit," he said.

On Saturday, he added, volunteers posted in Gozo also witnessed the shooting of a flamingo by hunters who were on a boat.

"Out of the 28 flamingos that were flying over the sea, the hunters managed to shoot down one. We immediately contacted the police who were very cooperative," he said.

He pointed out that sadly, these are just a few examples of many incidents the volunteers witnessed.

Members of the press were shown two immature honey buzzards that had been shot down this week - one was hit with five lead pellets and had to be put down. The other bird was injured and had been shot in the wing.

"After the camp is over, all the information will be collected and a report will be presented to the government with our views," he said.

Mr Temuge said that Birdlife Malta welcomed the government's decision to ban hunting after 3pm during the last fortnight of September.

He called for a serious enforcement of the legal notice on hunting.

"Words are not enough – there is the need for political will to clamp down on illegal hunting or else it will just be cheap talk," he said.

Hunters who shoot down protected species are criminals and as a result, should pay for their crimes, said Mr Temuge.

Birdlife Malta's executive director called on the government to beef up the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) unit within the police force who are doing the best they can with the limited human resources they have.

Bob Elliot, head of the investigative unit of The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Scotland, expressed his absolute shock when, on the camp's second day, he witnessed an osprey shot down.

The bird was shot down while it was trying to gain height before it plummeted to the ground.

"In all my years of experience, I have never seen an osprey shot," he said.

Mr Elliot also said he was shocked at the high rate of shooting everywhere.

"For the first time in my life, I was made to feel uncomfortable simply because I was wearing a pair of binoculars - it never happened before," he said.

Steve Downing, a retired police officer who works for the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit and heads a conservation project called Operation Artemis, explained he was in the police force for 40 years - the last 15 were totally dedicated to wildlife protection.

"I knew of Malta's reputation and I was prepared for that but I was not prepared for the vast scale of the problem.

"When the sun rises in the morning, you see hunters everywhere," he said.

The damage caused by illegal hunting is immeasurable - both to Malta's reputation and its wildlife, he added.

Furthermore, said Mr Downing, the police are doing a wonderful job but due to lack of resources, they cannot do anything more.

"More police officers are needed to cover the ground and these need optics."

"Only one member of the Gozo ALE team has binoculars and that is because he bought them."

"If the police have optics they can easily find where the hunters are," he said.

He called on the Maltese public to support the police force and on the government and judicial system to crack down on illegal hunting.

"In the UK, hunters know that if they are caught hunting illegally, they will go to prison straight away – this is not negotiable," he said.

Mr Downing said that the hunting community should also do more to help the police and be more vociferous in its condemnation of illegal hunting.

"Europe spends millions of euros to protect these birds and create natural habitats to help their population increase and these are slaughtered when they fly over Malta," he said.

Mr Temuge pointed out that they all respect hunters' rights as long as these are practised within their legal limits.

"Hunters cannot shoot at protected species - it is a crime and the Maltese government has to make sure that this is stopped," he said.

However, he was very positive because of the significant difference the members of the camp made.

In his opening address, Birdlife president Joseph Mangion said that even though this was one of the many camps organised by Birdlife Malta, it was the largest one so far with 53 participants from seven different countries.

Mr Mangion explained that the camp was set up for the scientific observation of birds to ensure that illegal hunting will not take place.

Mr Temuge said there was an excellent response to the Raptor Camp and added that he had to turn down more applications because there of lack of space.