By Jean Claude Doublet Form 3.5

A report launched by BirdLife Malta showed that local and international birdwatchers witnessed 209 incidents of illegal hunting and trapping during the two week long Raptor Monitoring Camp that came to an end on Sunday, September 23. These incidents included 109 protected birds being shot at which in many cases led to the injury or killing of these species, including 42 Honey Buzzards (Kuccard), 15 European Bee-Eaters (Qerd in-Nahal) and 13 March Harriers (Bghadan Homor). Additionally, the birdwatchers observed a minimum of 39 protected birds in flight with gunshot-related injuries.

These injuries involved either dangling broken legs or clearly visible gunshot damage to the wings. The report also shows that illegal hunting incidents were recorded in a total of 17 different locations during the Raptor Camp. Of these, Laferla Cross registered the highest amount of such incidents followed by Nadur Tower and Girgenti.

Birdlife also stated that since the opening of the autumn hunting season it has received 11 injured or dead protected birds with gunshot wounds, in addition to the 109 incidents of shooting at or killing of protected species the teams witnessed during the raptor camp.

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“This report summarizes the illegal hunting activity we witnessed during the Raptor Camp and it will form part of the final report being drafted which will focus on the ornithological data collected by the field teams during the camp. Birdlife Malta will also be submitting a proposal to Government for the improvement of law enforcement efforts.

The Maltese Islands are blessed with a Mediterranean climate of great summer weather and largely mild winters. Unfortunately, while most of us appreciate the good things in life that accompany this, we are mostly unaware of the enforced struggle that marine life goes through around us. 

The Marine Rescue Team Unit forms part of Nature Trust (Malta). It is a professional and nationally-recognised team of trained volunteers consisting of divers, scientists and veterinarians. The team is on a 24-hour call-out, seven days a week, all year round. It is responsible for Malta’s local marine stranding network in collaboration with the Maltese authorities.

The rescue team coordinates rescues of cetaceans, the classification that includes dolphins, whales and porpoises, as well as turtles along the coast of the Maltese Islands. It also produces educational material to raise awareness about marine related issues.

Did you know that dolphins and turtles are sighted along the coast of Malta?Fishermen and other seafarers tell us that in the past Malta had far more sightings of turtles, dolphins and even whales than we can see today. Malta can no longer claim to be a regular nesting area for turtles laying their eggs on isolated sandy beaches, as it once was. There could be many reasons for this and much has been documented by scientists studying both Malta and the Mediterranean as a whole.