Rare birds in peril over Malta

Hunters in Malta are killing rare birds that have migrated from all over Europe, according to new statistics from the environmental campaign group BirdLife.

The BirdLife report, out next week, bases its findings on the tags, or rings, found on dead birds brought to ornithologists in Malta.

More than 16% of the dead birds were found to be on migration routes to and from Finland, with 12% from Sweden, 9% from Italy and 7% from Germany. Birds protected under the EU birds directive, including honey buzzards and night herons, made up a third of the finds.

Bird-ringing is used to monitor bird conservation and breeding patterns around the world. Volunteers catch birds, attach a ring with a number, weigh them and release them. If the bird is subsequently caught or is found dead, then the number can be recovered, allowing scientists to put together a picture of migratory and feeding patterns.

Only a small proportion of the birds shot and killed in Malta each year will be carrying rings and not all the rings will be recovered.

But Andre Raine of BirdLife Malta said the report showed the international implications of Malta’s spring bird-hunt. "This hunt has direct implications on species conservation across Europe and beyond," he said.

Malta’s bird-hunt runs through April and May every year. The government has only authorised the hunting of quail and turtle-dove, but Raine says hunters are using this as a cover to shoot protected species.

The European Commission last year began legal action against Malta for breaching the EU birds directive with the hunt. A spokeswoman for the Commission’s environment department said that the infringement procedures would continue through 2007. "We expected Malta to apply EU legislation," she said. "The spring hunt should be forbidden for the protection of migratory species."

A Maltese diplomat rejected the Commission’s claims that Malta had failed to fulfil its legal obligations, since quail and turtle-dove were listed in the birds directive as species that can be hunted.

He said Malta was also taking action to combat the hunting of endangered birds.

"Illegal hunting is… faced by many member states," he said. "[Maltese] penalties for illegal hunting have been increased dramatically and enforcement resources have been strengthened to also include the army supplementing police action."

Hunters in Malta are killing rare birds that have migrated from all over Europe, according to new statistics from the environmental campaign group BirdLife.