[WATCH] Illegal hunting casualties more than double throughout 2020

 210 protected birds are known to have been illegally shot in Malta, marking the worst record for illegal hunting in Malta since 2013, according to BirdLife Malta.

"Following the end of the autumn hunting season on Sunday 31st January, figures for 2020 as a full year now show that it was the worst year in the last eight for illegal hunting casualties recovered by BirdLife Malta and police," the NGO said.

This amount is nearly double the amount of illegal hunting casualties recovered in 2018, which had previously held the record for number of illegalities at 114 illegally-shot birds.

"The total also represents a big spike in numbers when compared to the previous year (2019) when the number stood at 99, which also means that 2020 had as many illegally shot protected birds as the totals of 2019 and 2018 put together!" 

During the autumn hunting season, which closed off on 31 January, 101 birds were illegally shot. In the previous autumn hunting season, this number stood at 53.

BirdLife remarked that this is the tip of the iceberg, as these numbers don't reflect the number of illegally shot birds collected by hunters and never recorded.

The organisation said that law enforcement leaves much to be desired in this respect. It noted that police are struggling with the resources available to them, and the newly set up Environmental Protection Unit has failed to make significant inroads.

"Testament to this is the fact that the wildlife crime cases which BirdLife Malta and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) have reported to the police are now facing the risk of falling through due to late summoning," BirdLife said, referring to media reports of suspects walking away scot-free as they had not been summoned within the two-year period stipulated by law.  

"This is a gross lack of good governance and BirdLife Malta has already called for an investigation on the matter."

Last December the European Commission launched infringement procedures against Malta for allowing spring hunting without proper enforcement, as well as reopening a banned trapping season under the pretext of scientific research. 

Government is now obliged to respond to the Commission on how they plan to remedy the situation, with the deadline for this expiring on 3 February.

"In the meantime the Ornis Committee, which advises the Minister on bird hunting seasons and derogations, has been defunct for a number of months now, and is still in the process of being reappointed," BirdLife said. 

"It is not clear whether the Committee will be able to discuss the situation with the infringements and the outcome of the past trapping seasons given the deadline ahead. This, in spite of the fact that BirdLife Malta formally called for a meeting when the infringements were issued on 3rd December 2020."