Raptor Camp 2016 kicks off

Over the next three weeks 20 volunteers from 8 different countries will be joining forces with BirdLife Malta in monitoring illegal hunting of wild birds during the period when the peak autumn migration coincides with the hunting season.

Raptor Camp is an international camp organised by BirdLife Malta every year and will this year take place between the 19th September and 9th October.

Malta is situated on the central migratory route between breeding grounds in Europe and wintering grounds in Africa, serving as a critical resting place in the Mediterranean for migratory birds.  

Earlier this week, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) said that “although the autumn hunting season in Malta is only two weeks old, we already have seen more illegalities than during the whole spring hunting season.”

The illegalities reported during the first few days of the 2016 autumn hunting season, particularly the killing of two Black Storks, led BirdLife Malta to call on the Prime Minister to suspend the hunting season with immediate effect however the government has said that it is the Ornis Committee that has the prerogative to suspend or change the parameters of any hunting season.

Birdlife Malta said that “although footage evidence of more criminal acts against raptors and other protected species has emerged, up to now no action has been taken.”

BirdLife Malta is insisting that the season should be closed until the 15th of October when the birds of prey migration slows down in order to make it more difficult for illegal hunting to take place.