Six poachers convicted for illegal bird trapping after CABS reports

Six poachers accused of illegally trapping birds during the closed season or offering wild-caught birds for sale were found guilty in court this week following action taken by Committee Against Bird Slaughter staff and volunteers.

The cases, which were reported to the police by CABS, ended with a conviction and revocation of hunting and trapping licences for the poachers.

The first case involved three men who had been filmed in March 2017 trapping finches with a clap net in Fomm ir-Rih. Despite the men trying to cover their faces, including one who wore a white skull mask, the police were still able to identify them using CABS video evidence. The three were fined €1,600 each and had the licenses revoked.

In another case, a bird trapper was in two separate cases found guilty of illegally trapping Golden Plovers at San Martin at night, using an illegal bird caller and later offering the birds for sale online. After CABS volunteers discovered the trapping site and informed the police, the man was taken to court and ordered to pay €700. He also had his licence suspended for two years.

A similar case saw a Golden Plover bird trapper in Burmarrad being fined €1,000 and losing his licence for two years after being reported by CABS for illegal trapping in December 2016.

Another bird trapper from Maghtab was also fined €1,000 and had his license suspended for two years following a report to the police by CABS who had discovered the trapping site during an aerial survey.

“We hope that these successful prosecutions will serve as a strong deterrent and we are pleased that our intensive efforts to bring these criminals to justice are being rewarded”, CABS president Heinz Schwarze said.