Cypriot mass bird poisoning blamed on poachers

Yahoo News 24 Oct 08;

NICOSIA (AFP) – Cyprus's game fund on Friday said an estimated 300 birds have been deliberately poisoned in an act of revenge against the state-run body for nabbing poachers.

Officials said the culprits tainted the water system at release pens for chukar partridges that, ironically, are bred for the hunting season that starts next week.

"The Game Fund is convinced this hideous crime is directly linked to illegal poaching cases filed by the service in recent days," said a game fund statement.

"Unfortunately, some people are unable to realize that their actions hurt the ordinary hunter and not the service that has been the target of many criminal acts," it added.

The game and wildlife authority has warned hunters to stay away from the Soleas mountainous region as poisoned birds could prove lethal if picked up by hunting dogs. There are also fears that eagles and foxes in the area are at risk.

Cyprus has over 50,000 avid hunters restricted to designated hunting zones during specific times of the year but poaching has become a lucrative business the authorities are determined to stamp it out.

"The game fund spends a lot of time and energy to release birds so hunters don't complain, so this is an easy, but stupid, way for poachers to exact revenge," Martin Hellicar of conservation group Birdlife told AFP.