Malta

Bird trappers have literally carpeted large areas of protected coastline habitats with hundreds of trapping sites, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) said today. Aerial surveys conducted by the organisation resulted so far in the count of a minimum of 290 active bird trapping installations within NATURA 2000 protected zones on Malta and Gozo. On their webpage and on Facebook CABS have published aerial pictures which furnish proof of the high density of active clap nets as well as destruction of protected vegetation inside NATURA 2000 sites near Zurrieq and Hal Far. Counts of trapping sites in other protected landscapes, such as garrigue are still being calculated, as well as sites with too many nets and sites with nets larger than the allowed size. CABS accused the government of taking the Maltese public and the European Commision for a ride by promising "limited conditions" on the one hand and allowing uncontrollable mass-trapping of birds inside the core areas for nature protection on Malta on the other. It said that despite a clear legal ban several trapping sites have recently been built whithin and outside protected Natura 2000 zones. "We have provided the Wild Bird Regulation Unit with the location of a total of 44 active trapping sites which all seem to have been built in the last 2 years, making them illegal. It´s now up to the government to ensure that the trappers will be punished and that any licences - if issued by mistake - will be revoked", CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows said. According to the new Legal Notice on the live-capturing of birds a trapping site will only be accepted if the live-capturing station(s) are visible on aerial photos dated up to 2012, or registered with the Commissioner of Police by the end of December 2012. According to information provided by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) a total of 7,018 trapping sites have been registred for this year´s trapping season. CABS members also documented the widespread use of illegal bird callers for trapping. "We have recorded a total of 28 incidents on video. The machines we found were imitating finches, Song Thrush, Golden Plover, Dotterel and Skylark", Miss Burrows reports. CABS said that first pictures from the aerial survey as well as an interim report about the trapping situation on Malta have been sent to the European Commission last week. According to CABS a senior official of the EC´s DG Environment - which is at the moment preparing legal action against Malta over the comeback of finch trapping - already confirmed that his unit will look carefully into the report made by CABS.

Redstart in Cyprus: In almost all EU countries, the population of these once common species is in free fall, in many places the redstart has already completely disappeared. In Cyprus it is still caught recklessly and indiscriminately amongst many other songbird species and sold for profit as a restaurant delicacy. In cooperation with police, the CABS team on Cyprus have already dismantled 782 illegal limesticks and nabbed four poachers so far in this current spring bird protection camp. 56 birds have been cleaned up and set free - including 5 Redstarts

Hawfinch - one of many birds which were being used as illegal decoys

Huge blow against the poaching in Northern Italy - 30 nets consficated: in the mountains near Pisogne (Brescia / Lombardy) our CABS team reported an illegally set mist net site to the State Forest Police. Yesterday morning the police laid in wait in the pouring rain until the evening when they caught the trapper red handed. After confessing to responsibility of a further 5 nets in the vicinity, a search warrant of his property was executed. At the address police found a further 24 nets, 43 Bow traps and 77 Snap traps! Therefore being the largest seizure of illegal trapping paraphernalia of the current bird protection operations in Italy.

More live decoys confiscated: Today the Italian forest police arrested another trapper with 5 large nets in the area of Lumezzane (Brescia). The suspects uncle (a licensed hunter) was also present at the scene. More than two dozen birds were discovered along with other cases of animal welfare offences. In the photo - from left to right - we see a chaffinch, hawfinch, mistle thrush and brambling. All four species are 'protected' in Italy and were held in tiny cages. CABS members immediately arranged for the birds to be transferred to the wild animal rescue centre in Modena.

Malta allows song bird trapping. Despite international protest and the fact that the European Commission is to refer Malta to the European Court of Justice the trapping season for 7 species of finches opens today, 20 October. Trappers are allowed to catch Linnets, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Serins, Goldfinches, Hawfinches (photo) and Siskins. A total of 32,200 birds can be trapped with clap nets from now until the end of December. CABS has called upon the EC to take immediate interim measures in order to stop this unsustainable and cruel practice.

Some of our supporters are suggesting to boycott Cyprus as a touristical destination because of the bird trapping. We believe this is not the solution. Trappers and everyone else involved in illegal killing of birds in Cyprus would like to be boycotted by open-minded people from other parts of the world. This way they could continue killing birds and no one would point a finger at them. Perfect. In fact, Cyprus was boycotted for too long. Situated in the middle of Mediterranean sea, they kept enough distance from the rest of Europe to continue with this harmful practice until today. Now it is time to stop this. Bird populations are decimated by illegal killing and other threats all over the world. It is not time for the boycott, it is time for action. Every small help counts. You can sign a petition, write a protest letter or donate some money. If you have time, you can visit Cyprus. You can search and report traps in free time, talk with local people trying to convince them that trapping is wrong or even join us at our bird protection camps. The CABS teams are still here. In the last two days we located 8 nets and reported them to the anti-poaching unit of the British Police. The nets were seized and 6 birds freed.

An unusual find: Yesterday in the Bavarian town of Neutraubling, observant customs officers stopped a bird smuggler in his tracks. The 37 year old Dutchman had stashed a total of 30 European Bee-eater chicks in plastics trays in the footwells of his vehicle. The man confessed to buying the birds in Hungary for €50 each and intended to resell them for profit. Bee-eaters are fully protected under EU law throughout Europe and to keep them in captivity is extremely difficult. The birds were seized and criminal proceedings are now underway against the smuggler. (Photo © German Federal Customs Administration).

Thanks to our CABS team in Cyprus, this Bee-eater had a lucky escape and was able to continue its journey back to Africa. The bird was discovered glued to a limestick in Sotira, South-eastern Cyprus. A further 40 limesticks were also found in the surrounding vegetation. After cleaning its feathers our team released the bird unharmed (although probably a little shocked!). Our autumn bird protection has been running for 9 days – so far we have collected 940 limesticks, 39 large mist nets and ensured 7 poachers were arrested.

Punch against poaching in Brescia (Northern Italy): Near Odolo a CABS team has unveiled a gigantic bird trapping installation in a heavily secured with fenced garden. A 60 year old poacher had erected 11 nets with a total length of over 150 metres and stocked the site with 40 live decoys – mostly Robins and Dunnocks. Police subsequently found a further 23 nets following a search warrant of the trappers premises. The man is known as a source of illegally caught songbirds throughout the region. 11 freshly caught birds, including the Robin in the photo were released. This arrest is number 21 of the current CABS bird protection camp in the region.

Another successful weekend at our bird protection camp in Brescia: As a result of our field investigations in the mountains between Lake Iseo and the Idrosee, Forest Police were able to arrest 6 bird trappers between Saturday and Sunday. However, a sad discovery was made in the upper Val Sabbia where several dead robins were found in bow traps (photo). The trapper was found to be the brother of man who was previously caught having operated another trapping site just 200m away. Our bird protection camp in Italy has run for three weeks now and so far we have caught a total of 42 trappers and seized 180 bow traps, 461 snap traps and 28 large mist nets. The camp continues until the 6th November.

Illegal bird trappers caught in Malta – 25 live birds seized: Our investigations have led to the arrest of two illegal finch trappers and the seizure of 25 live birds during the weekend. In the first case officers of the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) caught a poacher red-handed on a trapping site close to Pembroke after CABS alerted the authorities on Sunday morning. 10 live finches and numerous trapping paraphernalia including clap nets, springs and cages were confiscated by the police. The trapper admitted that his trapping site was not licenced and will be taken to court. On the same day CABS also observed and filmed a finch trapper on a non-licenced site near Ghallis Tower in the Salini area. The man had set up an active clap net and 15 cages with live decoys including Goldfinches, Hawfinches, Siskins and Linnets. When the police arrived, the poacher escaped but later police confirmed that they have identified him on the basis of his car´s number plate and the footage taken by CABS. In a third case the Law Court in Victoria found a man from Ghajnsielem (Gozo) guilty of illegally trapping finches during the closed season and using an illegal bird caller in March this year. He was filmed and reported by members of a CABS team who were also called as witnesses during the trial on Thursday. The man was given a 700 Euro and his trapping licence was revoked for two years. CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows praised the suspension of the licence but criticised the 700 Euro fine as being “insignificant” and in conflict with the announcement of the government´s declared policy of tough action against illegal bird hunting and trapping.

Today our large bird protection camp in Brescia (Northern Italy) comes to a close. Since 1st October a total of 78 dedicated volunteers from all over Europe have come together and collected 246 bow traps, 649 snap traps and 46 large mist nets. 51 bird trappers (50 men, one woman) were arrested as a result of our findings. Most notable is the sharp decline in the use of bow traps: 15 years ago we regularly found over 10,000, so this year’s total of 246 marks a historic low! The robin in the photo was found in one of these cruel traps near the commune of Tavernole and unfortunately could be saved with its legs completely shattered. A small CABS team will remain in Brescia for another week to help clear the last known traps.

Our anti-poaching operation ‘Long Night Raid’ revealed the shocking level of winter trapping occurring within the British Base Areas on Cyprus. In just 2 days, we observed 500 nets used for illegal trapping and removed 274 of them. After this short and successful operation, our teams remained in Cyprus to continue monitoring bird trapping activity. We are looking for illegal trapping sites day and night and immediately report them to the anti-poaching police units. In 2 weeks, if we include the results of Long Night Raid, we have found 147 active trapping sites. Together with police we removed 358 nets and 323 limesticks from them. 8 persons were caught and prosecuted for trapping. 490 birds were rescued from the traps, including the robin on the photo.

A man walks towards his net where a quail is snared on the beach of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza, Palestine. Hunters erect hundreds of meters of yellow silk nets along the coastline to hunt migratory birds, mainly quails, which start arriving to the coasts of the Mediterranean in September. Photograph: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

Dead hawfinches stashed in crammed conditions that were intercepted last week by Italian authorities in southern Italy, some which might have been destined for Malta as trapping decoy birds.