The start of spring migration heralds renewed efforts to prevent illegal hunting on Malta and Gozo. International Animal Rescue will once again partner with the German-based Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) to monitor important rest areas for migrating birds and to locate and report illegally operated trapping sites.
In the last week of April ten volunteer Bird Guards, all experienced ornithologists from Germany, Italy, the UK and Malta, who have long experience of Malta, will conduct bird protection operations on the islands. For the first time the teams will be equipped with video cameras mounted on high performance German spotting scopes. These enable high quality documentary footage of poaching to be recorded as evidence for later investigation by the Malta Police.
As in previous years the CABS control room, which coordinates the Bird Guard mobile patrols and observation posts and links them with the police HQ in Valletta, will be located at St Paul’s Bay.
The news of the ban on spring hunting by the Maltese government has been met with great satisfaction by IAR and CABS. “The decision to ban spring hunting is of great benefit to endangered bird species and is an important signal to conservationists throughout the European Union. It means that Malta has finally begun to treat bird protection seriously and is ready to accept and comply with international standards of conservation” said Heinz Schwarze, President of CABS.
In 2008 members of the CABS team were successful in recording many cases of illegal hunting and trapping and reporting them to the authorities. The tragic highlights of their operations were the filming of a Black Stork being shot down at Dwejra Lines, the trapping of rare Ortolan Buntings near Zurrieq, as well as the seizure of seven different protected species of waders close to Bahrija.