|
from The Malta Independent, December 07, 2001
Shooting within the law
May I respond to Lino C. Farrugia's (FKNK secretary) comments about his hunting experiences in Great Britain (TMID, 28 November).
Firstly, we do not have migratory game birds in Britain, our game birds - grouse (two species), partridge (two species)
and pheasant - are not migratory. We do have quarry species such as some duck and geese species, woodcock, snipe, etc - all
of which have strictly controlled seasons (which are almost completely observed by UK hunters).
Hunters in Britain
generally shoot within the law, apart from a few gamekeepers and visiting European hunters who are notorious within British
hunting for shooting birds illegally. I am sure that Lino would not fall into this category, although I would be interested
to know what migratory game species he shot on his visit to Britain.
Secondly, I would dispute Linos figure of one
million hunters in Britain (in 1996 there were 723,000 legally held shotguns in the UK); even if this were the case, most
shooters in Britain only shoot pest species, such as crows or rabbits, or abundant species such as woodpigeon.
There
are very few 'sport' shooters. Compare this situation to Malta, were illegal shooting of migratory birds is widespread. I
personally saw many protected species shot during my visit to Malta, most of which were migratory birds of prey.
Lino
stated: "I have personally shot more heads of migratory game birds in a week in the UK, than I have shot in 30 years
in Malta." Is this because migratory game birds are rarely shot in Malta and instead the Maltese prefer to shoot herons,
eagles, buzzards, harriers, bee-eaters and swallows?
I sincerely hope that the Maltese people vote to join the EU,
which would see hunting laws on Malta strengthened and, hopefully, rigorously enforced by a well-resourced police force. I
wait for the day when migratory birds can fly safely over Malta and many birds that have been hunted to extinction on the
island can return to breed.
Iain Robson
Northumberland, England
|
