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As the White Stork prepares to fly over Malta, hunter Lino Farrugia describes reports on illegal hunting as a vendetta.
Michaela Muscat
Reminiscent of children’s fairytales, the mythical stork nests with its chicks on top of the chimneys of tached Austrian chalets. Aware that winter and the cold season are approaching, it starts its descent towards the southern warmer continent. After weeks of flying across Europe, it arrives in Malta only to find itself sitting stuffed on a dusty mantelpiece amongst other endangered animals. White Storks have been reported in September in Malta and are usually indiscriminately shot at. Next Thursday is officially the beginning of the hunting season.
But protected birds are not the only things that hunters are shooting down. Lino Farrugia dismisses the illegal hunting claims made by BirdLife Malta. A “vendetta” is how Farrugia, the secretary-general of the hunters’ federation (FKNK) described BirdLife Malta’s claims that people have reported illegal hunting taking place before the start of the hunting season.
According to Joe Mangion, BirdLife Malta’s president, “just like every other year we have been receiving reports of illegal hunting in places like Bahar ic-Caghaq and Birzebugga,” even though the hunting season is due to open on the first of September.
According to Lino Farrugia, “BirdLife and others” are so hell-bent on destroying Maltese traditions such as hunting and trapping that he is “100 per cent sure that they are “organising and orchestrating reports amongst other things.”
Farrugia claims the gunshots reported by members of the public had been directed towards rabbits and not birds, refusing to confirm illegal hunting does indeed take place in Malta.
Birds of prey like the Honey Buzzard, Osprey, Eagles, Falcons and even the Vultures will be presently migrating towards Africa and over Malta. Among the rarer birds migrating over Malta one discovers, the Eleonara Falcon, Lesser Kestrel and the Egyptian Vulture. BirdLife Malta is concerned that the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) branch of the Maltese police force is not paying enough attention to this abuse perpetuated by hunters.
The ALE has other responsibilities besides environmental protection such as beach patrolling so it could be the case that it is presently occupied with the overcrowded seas so typical of this month.
And Minister George Pullicino has once again defended his Ministry’s position on enforcement, though the illegal hunting seems to go on unabated. Meaning that storks and other protected birds are more likely to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous hunters.
michaelam@newsworksltd.com
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