Diary - Malta Bird Rescue
It has been confirmed that the process followed by the Coalition for the Abolition of Spring Hunting for an abrogative referendum was legal. The legality of the process was confirmed by the government in its submission to the Constitutional Court in response to hunters’ objections to a spring hunting referendum.
In its reply the government dismissed the hunters’ objections filed in court by legal advisor Kathleen Grima.
The 22-page submission which Dr Grima made last month on behalf of the hunters’ federation (FKNK) requested that the court...
IAR Malta Chairman Max Farrugia has welcomed the two year prison sentence handed out to a man who tried to smuggle thousands of protected birds and tortoises from Tunisia.
During the early hours of 14 March 2004, the accused, Publius Zammit, 46, of Msida, and his partner in crime were arrested after a chase at sea and on land.
The court heard how police and the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) had received a tip-off about a contraband operation involving the accused smuggling hundreds of birds from Tunisia into Malta.
AFM personnel were...
The spring hunting season in Malta which has ended can reasonably be described as one of the worst seasons in recent years. Illegal hunting was rampant, enforcement left much to be desired, whilst bird guards both local and foreign were threatened on several occasions. There were even cases where bird watchers and NGO officials were arrested. There was also the case of the BBC journalist who was called in for questioning at the Police Headquarters.
A coalition of local groups came together to collect signatures calling for a referendum on spring...
Sudden changes in the weather over Malta during the last few days have led to a number of bird species being sighted and recorded on the island, particularly shore birds and waders.
As a result of this, on Monday 27 January officers from the Administrative Law Enforcement Police Unit (ALE) arrested an armed hunter inside Is-Simar Nature Reserve, in the limits of Xemxija, St Paul’s Bay. Sources close to the police told me they were alerted to the break in by one of the reserve’s wardens and immediately dispatched a team from the ALE unit.
A number of animal welfare NGOs and several hundreds of people who have been protesting against animal circuses breathed a tentative sigh of relief earlier this week when the government published draft regulations to ban wild animals from circuses.
The draft regulations address a long-standing bone of contention and seek to prohibit the use of “wild animals” for performances, exhibitions and shows and also ban the training of animals for such a purpose. It is also proposed, logically enough, to ban the advertising and/or promotion of animal circuses....
The annual operation run by the German group Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) to protect migrating birds from being shot illegally on the Island of Malta starts this weekend (14 September.) This year the group includes more than 40 volunteers from nine countries. The guards taking part in the camps will be stationed on both Malta and Gozo.
The main aim of the CABS teams is to deter the shooting down of protected migrating bird species. Its bird guards will also search for illegal bird traps, nets and electronic decoy devices and report them to...
The migration season started with large numbers of bangs and shots owing to the sudden change in the weather in the early days of September. Large flock of birds flew over Malta, particularly birds of prey and herons and flamingos. A number of these were shot down and the police also made some arrests but still the promised enforcement is lacking, particularly during the week.
It seems that this year the shooters are concentrating their hunting activities much more on Gozo, the sister island, than on Malta, because on Gozo enforcement leaves much to be...
The Malta government has announced the autumn hunting season and revealed that the hours of the mid-season curfew will be reduced. The news has been welcomed by the FKNK, the hunters’ federation, as the government’s first step towards the eliminating the curfew, which it said was imposed on the hunting season. However, environmental and animal welfare groups have strongly criticised the government for not protecting migrating birds from illegal hunters.
The Government stated that, on the recommendation of the...
The 'Coalition for the Abolition of Spring Hunting' (CASH) has formally launched a petition calling for the holding of a referendum on the abolition of spring hunting.
The coalition is made up of the Ramblers Association of Malta, Nature Trust, Moviment Graffiti, International Animal Rescue Malta, Greenhouse Malta, Gaia Foundation, Friends of the Earth Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Coalition for Animal Rights, BirdLife Malta and Alternattiva Demokratika.
The petition reads:
“...
A remote controlled aircraft that was proving highly effective at detecting illegal hunting and trapping in Malta has been shot down. No wreckage has been found, even though the police were brought in to help with the search. It is believed that the aircraft, which was flying at about 80 metres, was shot at with a rifle, not a shot gun.
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