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Malta and it's migratory bird slaughter

Clive Muir

10+ Posts
Hello, lovely images of Malta... I haven't been there for almost 20 years. [Thread about Malta.]

Right now Malta is suffering the consequences of it's hunting policies that destroys hundred of thousands of migrating birds every year... the numbers are staggering...

You can read about this here
http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/

Chris Packham is one of the UK's top naturalist and wildlife tv presenters... He and his teams and projects have done a lot to promote environmental awareness and to create a more sustainable tourism trend... Now he has turned his attention to Malta,

To quote Chris Packham
"For many years I have lobbied the UK's bird charities to campaign to raise awareness about the slaughter of migrant birds on Malta. I have equally tried to stimulate television programme makers to cover the issue - both without success - a sad reflection of our complacent and risk adverse times."

Although I would love to visit Malta again I am afraid I have joined the large number of people boycotting the country on the grounds of it's terrible attitude towards wildlife... The very wildlife that could attract hundreds of millions in finance from the tourist sector...

Best regards.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Clive, you started a new thread about Malta, but I moved your post into this thread, so we can talk about Malta in one place. Okay?

I have read that similar things with migratory birds happens in Italy (they shoot and eat many of them). Is it that much worse in Malta?
 
Hi Pauline, yes I posted in a different thread because I didn't want to spoil the OP's first post with such negative comments...

However, yes... A hundred times worse than Italy... It is well worth watching Chris Packhams videos of his project there... They are on his website that I linked to...

Shooting for food is one thing but estimates last year was around a thousand eagles shot whilst on their northward route to Europe from Africa... Anyone eaten eagle lately? Nope its just for "Sport". We are talking thousands and thousands of birds shot every year.
 
I asked about the hunting issue while I was there, and heard that 45,000 Maltese (out of a population of 400,000) have signed a petition demanding a referendum demanding that the hunting of migratory birds for trophies be banned, so there should be a vote on it soon. It's only a minority of Maltese who hunt, and the rest (well, the people I talked to) were pretty appalled by it—for the sake of the wildlife, for the bad publicity it brings Malta and also for all the lead that goes into the soil. One suggestion is to follow Sweden, outlaw lead and use only very expensive steel ammunition.

Malta is a country in the throes of change; in spite of the exception on divorce that it requested when joining the EU, divorce became legal two years ago after a referendum; civil unions for gay couples became law last month, and it's quite possible that the hunting exception that Malta requested from the EU will also go down to defeat in the very near future.
 

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