Showdown building in Malta over spring hunting of migrating birds

Gina Doggett, Yahoo News 2 Apr 08;

Maltese bird hunters and conservationists are headed for a showdown in the Mediterranean island state over the plight of migrating birds such as quail and turtle doves that pass through every spring.

The European Court of Justice was to decide on Wednesday whether to ask the Maltese government to temporarily bar spring hunting until it reaches a definitive ruling on the issue.

Birdlovers are up in arms over spring hunting of wild birds, which is illegal under EU law but a deep-seated tradition in Malta, an important resting place for birds migrating between Africa and Europe and an EU member since 2004.

Since "the hunters are killing birds that are about to breed, ... what happens here is having a knock-on effect in other countries," said Andre Raine, the conservation manager of BirdLife Malta.

A government decision to ban spring hunting "should have been announced several weeks ago," Raine told AFP.

"It's kind of like a chess game," Raine said, noting that the issue has long been politically sensitive in Malta, but that in the wake of elections last month, "it's crunch time. They have to make a decision."

Malta's Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) declined an interview with AFP, but its general secretary Lino Farrugia told Malta's Sunday Times last month: "God forbid the hunting season doesn't open this spring!"

Asked if the FKNK feared trouble if spring hunting is stopped, Farrugia said: "I do not rule out anything. ... Nobody can understand our love for hunting."

Raine, for his part, said hunters "have eradicated native breeding species" in Malta, a densely populated island state with ever-dwindling green spaces and a population of some 400,000, of whom at least 20,000 are hunters.

Turtle doves and common quails -- the two species for which spring hunting is banned -- "don't breed here anymore," he said. "They have no chance because of high hunting pressure."

Malta is the only EU member state that allows spring hunting of the two species, both of whose populations are declining rapidly in Europe.

The dispute has allegedly led to a spate of violence and vandal attacks widely blamed on the FKNK, though few have been pinned directly on the association.

In February the prehistoric Hagar Qim temples, a UNESCO World Heritage site near a hunting and trapping ground, were daubed with pro-hunting slogans, three cars belonging to BirdLife Malta and its volunteers were torched and four amateur birdwatchers were beaten up.

In the run-up to the elections on March 8, assailants ripped up two of five BirdLife Malta billboards with an image of 13 Maltese celebrities urging the prime minister and opposition leader to oppose spring bird hunting, Raine said.