Poachers in Spain. (1 Viewer)

Aegitalos · Dec 1, 2012

Hi all, Greetings: I leave a link showing the activity of a forester in southern Spain against poaching.
A small grain of sand in the desert of what is happening right now here in southern Iberia.
It is unfortunate that in many European countries spend large sums of money for the protection of nature and it is destroyed in a few hours in the hands of irrational people in other countries.:

http://apatrullandolaforesta.blogspot.com.es/

Regards, Fernando.

Kentbloke · Dec 1, 2012

Thanks Fernando, it's rather sickening that this sort of thing still goes on :C. Here's the blog translated in to English

Mike Montier · Dec 1, 2012

Made me sick looking at those photos. When will it stop? I hope it does not happen here in Mallorca.

Motmot · Dec 4, 2012

Unfortunately it still does, Mike.

stonechat1 · Dec 4, 2012

I wonder that they even aren´t afraid to show their faces, Fernando?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYSflD7LEXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ynb6QGnME4&feature=youtu.be

Guess spanish police don´t put much efforts in to catch those criminals?

Simon Wates · Dec 4, 2012

There are even websites selling artificial trees for putting glue to trap birds and nets - see (in Spanish

http://www.silvestrismo.net/

Surely not all of this is legal?

The way I see the problem is:

The buggers doing this think of it just like fishing - but in the air - they cannot understand why folks think its cruel or why its illegal.

To control this either:
1.A great effort by the police etc.
2. Education

It will probably die out eventually but still some fathers take their sons into the field .(

John Cantelo · Dec 4, 2012

I admit I'm not quite sure what the law is on killing small birds in Spain. Clap netting is done quite blatantly in some areas (e.g. Cap Trafalgar) - is it legal? I've not come across the vicious traps shown in the blog which I assume to be illegal. Shooting small birds for the table also seems fairly commonplace - so much so I assume it's legal. Nor A number of restaurants in Cadiz province openly sell dishes made from 'thrushes'. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Simon Wates · Dec 4, 2012

John Cantelo said:
A number of restaurants in Cadiz province open sell dishes made from 'thrushes'. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Unfortunately Song Thrush (including Redwing!) can be shot legally in Spain and Portugal. In Portugal however, it is illegal to sell them in restaurants etc and I'm pretty sure in Spain it is also.

Sometimes I think that any pro-action like denouncing this activity could potentially be detrimental to the cause - although I take my hat off to anyone who does.

John Cantelo · Dec 4, 2012

Thank you, Simon, for the clarification. Like you, I suspect that loud protests about this issue (like bullfighting) are likely to be dismissed at best and counter productive at worst,

Irish Kite · Dec 4, 2012

Sometimes one wonders how any migrant birds make it out of Northern Europe and back, given the level of rampant poaching throughout the Med!!

Simon Wates · Dec 4, 2012

Irish Kite - I share your concern, however a little perspective is needed here. I have lived in the Spain and Portugal some 30 yrs and I can say that the hunting community is well behaved on the whole and act within the laws. Also hunting management although not perfect is not too bad and in some cases is pretty good. Illegal trapping is small scale and very localised normally and one certainly hardly ever sees it happening. I'm not in agreement with hunting for sport at all (agh!) but things are not anything like in Cyprus, Malta or even France and Italy here.

The law certainly needs changing regarding Song Thrush. Redwing, Golden Plover, Quail and Turtle Dove, which are legal tender to be shot. The numbers of hunters are rather few in most areas though. The Birdlife partners here have fought with the Govts for years and progress has been slow - but things are getting better.

Anyway - I just wanted you to know that in Spain and Portugal there is a lot more respect for nature than in some other Med countries.

All the best

Simon

Simon Wates · Dec 4, 2012

Also...from what my UK clients tell me and what I read, raptor persecution is worse in the UK than here - though that may be due to less reporting here...?

John Cantelo · Dec 5, 2012

Simon Wates said:
The law certainly needs changing regarding Song Thrush. Redwing, Golden Plover, Quail and Turtle Dove, which are legal tender to be shot.
All the best

Simon

I realise that things are grim in Iberia economically, but it's worse than I thought if birds have replaced the Euro as the legal tender ..... I think you meant to write 'legal quarry'

John Cantelo · Dec 5, 2012

Simon Wates said:
Also...from what my UK clients tell me and what I read, raptor persecution is worse in the UK than here - though that may be due to less reporting here...?

Having seen some of the figures for raptor poisoning in Spain - I'll try to dig them out when I remember where I saw them - and the rapid disappearance of Egyptian Vulture (which eat poisoned eggs put out for foxes, etc) I'm not sure things are that much better!

Motmot · Dec 5, 2012

Poisoning is still a major and widespread problem in many areas in Spain. The spreading of wolves below the Duero river is driving crazy stockbreeders from Castille and they can be pretty dangerous, so I guess the problem may increase. The national and many regional right-sided governments obtain big number of votes from hunters, breeders etc so they are not doing much to prevent the problem. Many big fincas gamekeepers still show old bad habits about 'predator control'. Carbofuran is easy to obtain. Not good.

John Cantelo · Dec 5, 2012

The photo attached (with faces obscured - hunters aren't faceless!) shows a recent scene from SW Spain. My correspondent tells me that in the area thrushes are usually eaten just once or twice a year as a special celebratory dish. However, with high unemployment you have to wonder how many hunters may look to their 'sport' to gain income,

keith · Dec 5, 2012

I couldn't even begin to enlarge that photo, we live in different worlds.

Irish Kite · Dec 6, 2012

Simon Wates said:
Anyway - I just wanted you to know that in Spain and Portugal there is a lot more respect for nature than in some other Med countries.

All the best

Simon

Aye Simon, I appreciate things are better in the Western end of the Med, I guess I'm just getting weary of seeing countless images and accounts of the never ending, senseless slaughter of migrant birds in Southern Europe.

Irish Kite · Dec 6, 2012

John Cantelo said:
Having seen some of the figures for raptor poisoning in Spain - I'll try to dig them out when I remember where I saw them - and the rapid disappearance of Egyptian Vulture (which eat poisoned eggs put out for foxes, etc) I'm not sure things are that much better!

Red Kites appear to be suffering too with a big drop in both the resident and wintering population over the past 20 years

Jack Dawe · Dec 6, 2012

Simon Wates said:
Anyway - I just wanted you to know that in Spain and Portugal there is a lot more respect for nature than in some other Med countries.

I remember once seeing a TV programme about hunters in southern France shooting quantities of Ortolan Buntings in order to make Ortolan pie. Apparently it's a regional delicacy... :eek!:

It's definitely a different world down south, but not always a better one.

Poachers in Spain. (1 Viewer)

Aegitalos

Ah, yes, well

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