[WATCH] Hunters flout turtle-dove ban, footage catches poachers red-handed

BirdLife Malta has claimed that thousands of turtle-doves have been illegally shot over Malta and Gozo in the last days, with the weather conditions pushing birds over the islands.

The conservationists released footage from Monday and Sunday, where particularly good days for migration saw single birds and up to flocks of six

being indiscriminately targeted by hunters as if it were an open season.

Footage taken by BirdLife shows two hunters shooting and killing the vulnerable species, while another five shot turtle-doves were recovered in the space of two days.

A shot turtle-dove found in Burmarrad

Two of the five turtle-doves found shot originate from the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) claimed land of Miżieb, with BirdLife Malta staff finding a live injured turtle-dove on Sunday afternoon, followed by another injured dove found by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) from the woodland on Monday.

“Miżieb accordingly remains a mecca of illegalities where in the past a number of shot protected birds have been found at times buried under rocks,” BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana said.

Sunday’s barrage of shots were heard from across the islands, with several complaints were lodged on social media from members of the public reporting heavy shooting from as early as 4:30am till midday on Monday.

With the exceptional numbers of turtle-doves seen migrating till late morning, BirdLife said it had reason to believe that such shots were in their majority targeting turtle-doves and not quail, for which the spring hunting season is supposedly open for.

BirdLife has also received several other shot protected birds including birds of prey, herons, Golden Orioles, Hoopoes and Bee-eaters indicating such species were also being illegally targeted during the open season. In contrast, a request filed yesterday by BirdLife, asking the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) and the Minister for the Environment Aaron Farrugia to provide the numbers of Quail declared caught by hunters so far, remained unanswered.

“It is clear that the government is in collusion with the hunting lobby to hide these atrocities,” BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said.

“The hunting lobby and its members are feeling they can get away with anything right now since the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are bending backwards to give the lobby all they desire including hunting the vulnerable turtle-dove.

“It is opportune to recall that when previous Prime Minister Joseph Muscat took a stance and stopped spring hunting short due to illegalities in 2015, we had the lowest year of shot protected birds retrieved. It seems that with Dr Robert Abela at the helm, this year will be having a record number of shot protected birds. He should be ashamed.”

BirdLife Malta Head of Conservation Nicholas Barbara stated: “We haven’t seen such rampant illegalities in ages. Since the start of the year 44 shot birds have arrived to the attention of veterinarians after being found shot and injured by members of the public. Half of these birds arrived since the opening of the spring hunting season on the 10th of April, with no less than 12 illegally shot protected birds received since last Saturday. This is all happening under the guise of a spring hunting derogation to the EU Birds Directive – an exception to the rule Malta should be held accountable for. We will be assisting the European Commission to stop this once and for all.”