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Malta - Ranger confronts hunter to protect rare Eagle (1 Viewer)

Greg L

Registered user
A ranger in charge of the Foresta 2000 project at Mellieha yesterday
morning saved a rare booted eagle (Ajkla tal-Kalzetti) from certain
death when he confronted a hunter who was stalking the bird and
about to shoot it.

The ranger, who is employed by Din l-Art Helwa and BirdLife, and who
did not wish to be mentioned by name, has been in charge of the
area, which falls within the protected zone surrounding the Ghadira
nature reserve, since last August. He said he saw the eagle flying
low and settling in one of the trees at the break of dawn.

Some 10 minutes later, he saw a car approaching and a hunter went
out and ran towards where the eagle had settled, which prompted the
ranger to give chase.

The ranger caught up with the hunter, who was under the tree under
which the eagle had settled and informed him that he was within the
confines of a nature reserve. An argument ensued but the hunter left.

Police from the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit, who were
patrolling the area, were called and went on site within minutes.

The ranger said he suspected the eagle had already been shot at and
was wounded because it did not fly after it had settled, and when it
took off later, it settled again across the valley. Ironically this
time it chose a hunter's hide to settle on, close to Anchor Bay.

The bird later flew off again and again flew low.

ALE police were trying to trace the hunter, who is likely to face
charges of attempting to shoot a protected bird and hunting within
the confines of a bird sanctuary.

Booted eagles breed in Southern Europe and North Africa. Most, if
not all individuals migrate to Africa, but this year there has been
a phenomenon with Spanish birds migrating east rather than south.
The bird seen in Malta might well be one of these birds.

The booted eagle is one of the 17 birds listed as strictly protected
species, and fines for killing or attempting to kill them can be as
high as Lm1,000.

But neither the fines nor the existing enforcement seem to be
deterring some hunters as rare species are still shot down. Short-
toed eagles were killed earlier this year, and the police managed to
find a hunter who had just killed one of two birds.

Other species of birds of prey as well as large birds such as
storks, herons, owls, spoonbills and small colourful birds such as
hoopoes and orioles have met their fate at hunters' hands.

In a statement yesterday, Nature Trust (Malta) raised the issue of
law enforcement in a statement about the budget.

The environmental NGO said it was very pleased to note that the
budget for 2005 has this time round addressed the issue of the
environment, naming it as one of three key areas for the government,
but questioned how certain areas involved with law enforcement have
not been mentioned and that bodies like the ALE Unit of the Police
and environmental inspectors of the Malta Environment and Planning
Authority seem low on the agenda.

From the Times of Malta 30. November 2004

Greg Lambe
on behalf of 'Proact International'
http://proaction.tripod.com/
 
Greg L said:
A ranger in charge of the Foresta 2000 project at Mellieha yesterday
morning saved a rare booted eagle (Ajkla tal-Kalzetti) from certain
death when he confronted a hunter who was stalking the bird and
about to shoot it.


Sadly the very next day 3 Booted Eagles Hieraaetus pennatus were shot and killed by hunters.

David
 
Unbelieveable........senseless. I was having a good morning until I read this thread, now I'm utterly depressed.

EVERY BF member should support Proact's work. Join now.
 
For information on how you can help please get in touch with me through the PM facility. We recently re-issued our information on Illegal Hunting and have a pack covering the varied southern European issues or covering any specific country such as Malta.

Ian
 
Ian Peters said:
For information on how you can help please get in touch with me through the PM facility. We recently re-issued our information on Illegal Hunting and have a pack covering the varied southern European issues or covering any specific country such as Malta.

Ian

Hi Ian, What is the solution,

I've already posted my gripes about the Neopolitan area of Italy in BF some months back and, as a result, am reluctant to return to Italy for any sort of holiday. I know there are lots of very beautiful places, loads of history and culture but I am torm between going as an "eco tourist" or abandoning it unti lthey get there act together.

Malta, being a much smaller country might be more beneficial from more tourist bird watchers and naturalists than the likes of Italy. What would you suggest? What about BF members in those countries that have this hunting / trapping problem. Do they have any suggestions.

My wife would like to go back t Malta and we would both like to go to the COMO region in Italy. If we can go to these places and also be able to benefit the persecuted wildlife we will go and try to contribute.

I am sure we are not alone in this predicament

Steve
 
What is the solution,

Good question Steve ... what more can we do?

Could a forum with as many members as BF organise the threat of a boycott of their:
- holiday industry?
- wine exports?
- olive oil exports?
- other country specific exports?
Maybe we could start with a letter to the press?
Have we any members who have contacts with the TV industry? (A BBC documentary on this would work wonders with the British public, as I am sure it would with the public in many other countries)

A lot of questions I know ... but have we any answers?
 
Greg L said:
What is the solution,

Good question Steve ... what more can we do?

Could a forum with as many members as BF organise the threat of a boycott of their:
- holiday industry?
- wine exports?
- olive oil exports?
- other country specific exports?
.......
A lot of questions I know ... but have we any answers?


WHOOOOOA! Stedy on there. We've been down this road before and it's the worng one - sorry.

1. Collective punushment for the sins of a few is neither moral nor civilized.

2. The hunters are not in the majority. It is sad that not more Maltese speak out (especially the women) but "don't knows" or "non-voters" are the majority in most countries these days - and in the case of Mediterreanean countries women in certain social classes have to be careful about what stance they take in public. Sad but true.

3. But the opposition to hunting is growing in Malta as I have posted elsewhere and the EU is starting to listen to their (and our) voice. The hunters are louder, well-organised and have political support because the can swing block votes. Anyone recognise a similiarity with (say) England and fox-hunting until recently? But no-one suggested boycotting UK products.

4. Malta is 90 % + dependent on tourism. Penalising the country through a tourism boycott weould hit the little people, waitresses, shop assistants and the like (also mostly women). The mopney-makers would look for new tourist from countries which are not so sensitive to such issues. I do not need to name any here I believe.

NO! Lets all go to Malta and show our dislike of their barbaric habits by discussing it with all the Maltese we meet. Some more brave souls might like to join the annual raprtor camp see the BirdLife Malta site.

In short integration is better than isolation and, although there is a long way to go, Malta's accession to the European Union is a good start.

David
 
Points taken David (not necessarily agreed with in their entirety) ... however ...

what more can we do to influence events in the short term?
Most concerned people cannot fly across to Malta or elsewhere to discuss the issues as suggested.
Many have written to the various influencing bodies, but how long will this approach take to have substantial results. (I am not suggesting these approaches do not have results, just that maybe more can be done)

The threat of any boycotts may concentrate the minds of those in Malta, and elsewhere, who can make a difference (maybe a threat to the UK of boycotts over continued fox-hunting may have speeded up the introduction of legislation ... although lets not go down this line).

It would not only be the little people who would be worried ... it would concentrate the minds of those who control the tourist industry etc ... they have a lot to lose .. and tend to be very influential.

Greg
 
Greg L said:
Points taken David (not necessarily agreed with in their entirety) ... however ...

The threat of any boycotts may concentrate the minds of those in Malta, and elsewhere, who can make a difference (maybe a threat to the UK of boycotts over continued fox-hunting may have speeded up the introduction of legislation ... although lets not go down this line).

It would not only be the little people who would be worried ... it would concentrate the minds of those who control the tourist industry etc ... they have a lot to lose .. and tend to be very influential.

Greg

Greg. Don't get me wrong! Just let me relate what happened 2 years ago. The idea of persuading tourists to boycott Malta was then aired publicly in the print media. At the same time I had trying to put pressure on German airline http://www.proact-campaigns.net/malta/id25.html
to live up to their declared commitment to the environment nad put pressure on the Maltese authorities to curb illegal hunting. These two initiatives hit Malta head on and .....

The citizens of Malta were horrified. Everyone was being puinished for the sins of a few. We were all at once foreigners who were meddling in Malta's affairs and not friendly environmentalists lending their support. It took a while and some disclaimers to get our friends in Malta back on our side.

Some time later there was a reaction from the Maltese Ministry for Tourism - I quote from the Proact site at the time:

Malta's economy is HEAVILY dependent on tourism. The Ministry for Tourism is beginning to wake up to the facts that:

a) The bird slaughter is damaging Malta's image as a holiday destination
b) Malta cannot rely in future on mass 'sun-tourism'


In an editorial entitled "Going beyond numbers" in the Times of Malta the future of the tourist industry is discussed in terms of "raising the profile, and hence the spending power, of the visitors." At a recent meeting between the Enviroment and Tourism ministers the establishment of a working group to study 'eco' or 'soft' tourism was discussed.

Neither the Minister for Tourism or the Malta Tourist Authority have seen fit to reply to Proact campaign letters in the past. With a new consciousness this will hopefully change.

The moral is that we have to tread carefully. Things are improving but we want the 'good' Maltese with us and not against us.

I'll deal with any follow-up later. I have a date in the pub in 10 minutes - TGIF B :)

David
 
Good points ... again David!

I guess that I get very frustrated with what happens in these countries in relation to hunting, trapping etc and even more frustrated that it is so hard to do more to influence the situation for the better.

Enjoy your pint ... I'll have to have a can at home as I have the children
 
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