One Million Migratory Birds Slaughtered In Cyprus

Michele Kambas, PlanetArk 11 Mar 09;

NICOSIA - More than 1.1 million songbirds prized as culinary delicacies were illegally slaughtered by trappers in Cyprus in the past year, a conservation group said Tuesday.

Cyprus lies on a key migratory route and bird trapping has been commonplace for years. Trappers use either fine mist nets or sticks dipped in sticky lime.

"The figure is an unacceptable toll which ever way you look at it," said Martin Hellicar, executive manager for Birdlife Cyprus.

Many of the birds are served up as expensive delicacies in local restaurants, even though trapping and consumption is strictly banned, the group said.

Although the overall figure in trappings appeared unchanged for 2008 compared to 2007, there was a 50 percent spike in trappings during the winter of 2008 compared to the same season a year earlier, Hellicar said.

A report on the situation, compiled by Birdlife Cyprus and Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has been submitted to a wildlife committee of the Council of Europe, the Cypriot government and the European Commission.

About 90 percent of the migratory birds which fly from Europe to warmer climates over Cyprus each year are protected, and also include threatened species.

Trapping using fine mist nets spread over trees is a common method, along with lime sticks placed in bushes. Birdsong recordings are used as a lure.

The birds, known as "ampelopoulia" are served in restaurants for up to five euros apiece. They are normally fried, wrapped in vine leaves to conceal from other possibly disapproving patrons and consumed whole.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)

Cypriots kill a million migratory birds: conservationist
Yahoo News 10 Mar 09;

NICOSIA (AFP) – More than one million migratory birds were illegally trapped and killed over the past year to feed an illicit Cypriot taste for such delicacies, a conservationist group said on Tuesday.

A survey by Birdlife Cyprus carried out between March 2008 and February 2009 showed that more than 1.1 million birds were indiscriminately killed with mist nets and limesticks, with estimated killings at a five-year high.

These methods are used to catch black caps and song thrushes, much sought after delicacies in Cyprus that fetch five euros (6.40 dollars) each at restaurants, making the illegal trade a lucrative one.

"When push comes to shove and the 'delicacies' on peoples' plates are at stake, decision makers just don't want to know," Birdlife manager Martin Hellicar told AFP.

He said a clampdown on restaurants was needed to prevent Cyprus revisiting the 1990s when up to 10 million birds were killed.

A huge crackdown on trappers and restaurants was enforced before Cyprus joined the European Union in May 2004, but now conservationists say the government lacks the political will to eradicate the trade.

"Bird trapping is coming back to haunt us in a big way and the reason is simple -- packets of money to be made."

During the winter, millions of birds take refuge in Cyprus from colder northern climates.

An estimated 57 species that are listed as threatened or in need of protection are snared in illegal Cypriot traps.

Greek bird group blasts hunting in protected wetlands
Yahoo News 10 Mar 09;

ATHENS (AFP) – A leading local bird association denounced Tuesday the killing by hunters of 15 pink flamingos in a protected wetlands area in western Greece.

"Once again, the massive slaughter of 15 pink flamingos during the month of February underscores the total lack of protection" in the Gulf of Amvrakikos, the Hellenic Ornithological Society said in a statement.

One of the largest lagoons in the Mediterranean region, the Gulf of Amvrakikos is among 10 wetlands protected by the 1971 Convention on Wetlands to which Greece is a signatory.

The area has been blacklisted by the international convention since 2007 for lack of adequate environmental protection.

In 2005, the European Court of Justice also condemned Greece on the same grounds.