Dead Turtle Dove Placed Outside Of Castille As BirdLife Calls Out Illegal Hunting
Animal activists have placed a dead turtle dove on the steps of Castille as proof of illegal hunting of the vulnerable bird.
The bird was found in “a notorious illegal hunting spot” in Delimara by a member of the public, BirdLife said.
“Virtually, the hunting season is already open on turtle doves with hunters out en masse mostly to hunt turtle doves and not quail. The timing and manner in which the season has been opened over the past years practically ensures that hunters hunt Turtle-doves irrespectively,” BirdLife said.
Activists said police were not able to keep up with “controlling what each and every hunter hunts, let alone are we to believe that should this hunting season go through, 7,900 hunters will just limit themselves to 1,500 birds just because this bird is in a vulnerable state,” said BirdLife Malta Head of Conservation Nicholas Barbara.
The current spring hunting season on Common Quail, which has been open since Monday, has “already resulted in a significant number of European turtle-doves killed illegally, despite the question of whether turtle-doves may be hunted legally in Malta is still pending a court decision,” activists said.
A court hearing on Friday shall be deciding the fate of the vulnerable turtle-dove this spring, following a warrant of prohibitory injunction filed by BirdLife Malta last week which was provisionally upheld by the court.
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