Barbaric Slaughter of Birds on UK Cyprus Army Base (1 Viewer)

Took a while to find it on the MOS website but the following link takes you to a letter Prince Charles has written to the Army Base Commander in Cyprus published in the MOS today regarding the disgusting slaughter of wild birds on the Base ............. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nds-private-letter-head-Army-base-Cyprus.html :-C

Every bit of support helps!


Shane

Hope the intervention from the heir to the throne helps, it bloody should do, after all it is a British Army base. Something needs to be done and fast to stop this barbaric slaughter.

Damian

The SBA is large and a lot of it is training area covered in scrub (which is why it attracts migrants.) The locals slip in and stick their nets and limesticks up, and our forces can't be everywhere all the time. They do deal with whatever they find.

If any of you have Army training areas near you - how hard would you find it to do stuff on there without the Forces noticing?

John

My friend entered through a broken fence once to photograph a pair of mallards in a forest and a uniformed soldier appeared immediately to lead her out.

I think Army is mighty, especially of a country like UK, and you don't mess with them or you may be charged for ter*ism (which entering the army area might very well be, disguised as "misdemanor" bird stealers)

Zheljko said:

My friend entered through a broken fence once to photograph a pair of mallards in a forest and a uniformed soldier appeared immediately to lead her out.

I think Army is mighty, especially of a country like UK, and you don't mess with them or you may be charged for ter*ism (which entering the army area might very well be, disguised as "misdemanor" bird stealers)

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The thing is though, in the UK most Army training areas (as opposed to army bases) are public access, so just being there is not a problem. British people walk their dogs there, go mountain biking, birding etc. I use the local ones quite a lot myself.

MOD conservation workers, especially in the North of England, have problems with eggers, bird of prey persecutors and so on. These people are even found driving around on MOD land in 4WD possibly with shotguns on board (I couldn't possibly comment on hearsay.....) The suspicion may be that they are looking for harriers but the reality is that they have to be just shown the door.

Now consider how you deal with Cypriots in Cyprus even if you catch them in the SBA which is technically British soil. Also, while the military authorities and the military police probably know what to look for, the average Serviceman/woman probably doesn't, isn't often in a position to see anything and may not be that interested - or may be in the middle of their daily five miles and reluctant to stop and get involved. Its a tough nut to crack: you shouldn't underestimate the difficulties the Forces face there.

If anybody is interested in MOD conservation generally, try this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...file/249994/Sanctuary_mag__number_42_2013.pdf


John

Farnboro John said:

The SBA is large and a lot of it is training area covered in scrub (which is why it attracts migrants.) The locals slip in and stick their nets and limesticks up, and our forces can't be everywhere all the time. They do deal with whatever they find.

If any of you have Army training areas near you - how hard would you find it to do stuff on there without the Forces noticing?

John

Click to expand...

Indeed, John, and it's made worse by the fact that the SBAs are virtually on a skeleton staff, due to defence cuts. Many posts are unfilled.
MJB

You can drive in and around this SBA, and as Farboro John says, they can't be everywhere at once. It is not actually a camp so people can access it very easily. This is pure sensationalism from the newspaper, they want to have a go at an already heavily burdened army. The bird slaughter is nothing new, but blaming the army is totally out of order. The British Army actually do a great deal for conservation, just by resticting access and leaving training areas in a relatively natural state. Also by clearing up all the rubbish that people drop in these "open" training areas means that it has far less environmental impact than other rural areas.

Don't get me wrong I certainly wasn't having a go at the British Army however I did think it was a base with a lot of security and did not understand any member of the public could just go about there business doing what they want. I have a friend who is a wildlife crime officer and he done some work over there and the videos of birds stuck on poles made my blood boil and I was even more shocked when he told me they were mainly for the plate, something does need to be done about it though.

The past few year have seen a decline in the number of birds trapped on Malta and Gozo because of intervention by mainland European activists. But if there is proof that this has criminal bcking on Cyprus, then surely an investigation will help sort out the goings on at the SBA. @ BB, I didn't think you were having a go but the paper was and that is out of order. Selective reporting for sensationalism should be out outlawed, or at least punishable by public dismemberment. Or Joe public should ostracise the papers responsible, oh wait, we wouldn't have any more newspapers..or politicians for that matter. What was so bad about the "good old days" where facts were reported and people weren't subjected to the opinions of journalists?

In the long run, the local culture has to change regarding their attitude towards animals in general and rare birds in particular (like it did in most parts of Europe). I'm amazed that this kind of treatment of birds is still considered socially acceptable in Cyprus. After all, it's not like anyone's dying of hunger there.