BirdLife Malta reiterates that spring hunting should be abolished once and for all

BirdLife Malta has said that the moratorium on hunting of turtle doves only, excluding hunting of quail, will solve nothing, and that scientific facts justify the permanent ban of spring hunting

“With today’s decision for a moratorium on spring hunting of Turtle Doves as requested by the hunting lobby – something which he should have done a long time ago based on the uncontested scientific facts which show that the species is in danger of extinction – the government is still playing political games and is now rendering the Ornis Committee and the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) into a farce, thus ridiculing their proper existence,” BirdLife Malta said in a statement.

BirdLife added that if the government really wanted to show it is serious it should have invoked a permanent ban of spring hunting – on both turtle dove and quail – once and for all.

“Whilst BirdLife Malta welcomes any decision to stop hunting in spring, it is seriously preoccupied with today’s decision which was only taken after the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) pronounced itself.”

It added that the decision was ultimately a political decision and not a rational or scientific one particularly because they excluded one species from the moratorium.

“The government has opted to continue allowing spring hunting of quail notwithstanding the fact that animal rights parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes is in possession of reports that clearly show that there is an alternative for quail hunting in autumn,” the statement reads.

BirdLife added that by allowing quail hunting in spring to continue, it would be humanely impossible to exercise control, as it is also next to impossible to ensure that hunters do not at the same time hunt for other species, including turtle doves as well.

They add that the government’s decision ridicules the existence of the Ornis Committee and renders it irrelevant as nowadays all decisions being taken – as today’s decision shows – are being taken on a purely political basis.

“Today’s decision also ridicules and renders into a farce the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) which forms part of Roderick Galdes’ Parliamentary Secretariat. WBRU has done its utmost to try to convince Ornis that notwithstanding the vulnerability status of the Turtle Dove declared by IUCN, spring hunting on the species should continue. These two entities have now been rendered powerless.”