VALLETTA, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Malta's local environmental organization BirdLife has demanded government action against hunting and stop hunting season, because 15 protected birds have been illegally shot in this autumn hunting season, BirdLife said Tuesday in a statement.
Bird hunting is a very popular practice in Malta. With approximately 15,000 hunters, it contains the highest density of hunters per capita in all of Europe. The autumn season was opened on Sept. 1 until Jan. 31, which according to BirdLife, is too long.
Birdlife has called on the Maltese government to adopt some measures to forbid illegally hunting since this autumn opened, but more and more protected birds have been shot, BirdLife said in the statement.
Malta's Environment Minister Jose Herrera on Monday called on the police to take strong actions against hunters who are breaking the law. But another two protected birds shot on Tuesday, the statement said.
"BirdLife Malta reiterates that there is no genuine political will from the government to control hunting whatsoever with illegalities happening in all corners of the island with every opportunity," BirdLife said.
"It is high time the government stopped pampering the hunting lobby and rather than showing concern about what hunters are causing to themselves when they shoot protected birds, it should be preoccupied about the fact that schoolchildren visiting nature reserves in the days to come will not be able to see these beautiful birds as they have been shot," the statement said.
Illegal hunting and under-reporting is not the only concern for this organization. The use of pre-recorded bird calls for hunting purposes is also illegal. BirdLife often hears these recordings during their camps, but due to low law enforcement, are unable to precisely locate the call and ensure that the trapper is fined.
Furthermore, hunting in the spring is banned throughout the entire EU with minor exceptions under the Bird Directive that was first established through the EU Commission in 1979. BirdLife hopes to fight this legislation and make spring hunting completely illegal in the future, it said.
