British naturalist stands by anti spring hunting claims

Chris Packham, the British naturalist, who made quite the name for himself in Malta during the shooting of his ‘Massacre on Migration’ documentaries in April, was again defiant in his claims that spring hunting in Malta should be abolished.

Interviewed on BBC’s HARDtalk, Packham was asked whether his over-zealous approach in defending wildlife could sometimes be seen as inciting threats from hunters. His 10-day visit to Malta was specifically mentioned.

“In the past, when there were fewer hunters, the practices they were partaking in were fine,” he said. “But the population of birds has been declining and it is simply not tenable to have 80 hunters per square kilometre shooting away at birds.”

“It is illegal all over Europe, why is Malta getting away with it?” he said.

During his visit to Malta, Packham was involved in a confrontation with hunters in Mizieb and was later held in police custody for five hours.

Packham’s documentaries may be seen here.