Visit Malta- no thank you! (Malta)

Member Name: T0BY

Product:	Malta
Date:	10/06/02 (514 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Money wasted, killing for fun

Hello, are you thinking of going on holiday this year to Malta? If so I would like to draw to your attention to a little know fact about life on what should be an idyllic Mediterranean holiday island.

Did you know that in Malta Internationally, protected migratory bird species are shot from the skies.

First let me point out that what I am about to write is not pleasant. If you are like me and value our ever diminishing number of summer migrating birds. Then the plight of Birds migrating to Europe over Malta should be noted before you book your holiday.

I am not trying to encourage people into boycotting holidays in Malta. The vast majority of Maltese people do not support hunting and what happens to the birds. The population of Malta depend on income from tourism. Malta has a population of 400,000, of which about 15,000 are hunters and trappers. Malta also has a strong but misplaced hunting tradition. However, birds are shot and trapped on a scale that beggars belief. The Maltese have an absolute obsession with killing any and all birds. The shooting takes place anywhere in Malta, from boats, at the roadside, in public parks even from the roofs of churches and hotels there are reports of hunting taking place in some of Malta's nature reserves

A book published over ten years ago by Natalino Fenech titled "Fatal Flight" (ISBN 1870948 53 X) first brought the scale of the killing to the attention of the World.

Quote: "Every year over three million finches are trapped. Add to this 80,000 Golden Orioles, 500,000 Swallows, 13,000 Shearwaters, 500,000 Thrushes, 1000 Stilts and between 50 and 80,000 birds of prey are shot every year". Go to almost any market in Malta and see countless thousands of birds in small restrictive cages. Terror struck Finches are even sold in little paper bags like sweets. This level of abuse and killing has no place in a modern European society

This year (2002) has st
arted no different to previous years. A large family group of Mute Swans were shot by hunters from a motorboat. Within a few minutes of landing in front of tourists and their children at St Thomas Bay. Joseph Mangion, the president of Birdlife Malta, a group linked to the RSPB, said "people had been enjoying the sight of the mute swans in the bay because it is unusual for the birds to fly as far south as Malta during the winter. It was very blatant. They [the hunters] drew up near to the swans and, as the birds took flight, the men opened fire. They killed seven or eight of the swans. They brought most of the birds on board and made off, leaving three behind." Later another flock of 30 swans at St Thomas Bay was shot at and at least another two swans were killed. Separate reports of a third flock of 5 swans were shot at in Gozo; of these only two were seen flying in the evening.

A typical Maltese massacre happened in May when 900 plus Honey buzzards were shot in a single day Inspector. Miruzzi of the Malta police said, "Police were inundated with reports about large birds of prey being shot down especially in the south and that there were many hunters shooting even from the main road leading to Marsascala. The policemen who were sent witnessed a large massacre of honey buzzards, which are protected birds of prey. There was a flagrant breach of the law and some 900 protected birds were killed in a short span of time. The situation was so chaotic that the police could not cope and the army was called in to assist. Some hunters were shooting at protected birds even in the presence of the police.

Now there are other worrying report of large amounts of lead shot being eaten by farm animals used to feed Malta's tourists. Each year three and a half tons of lead shot is discharged from shotguns.

The political parties in Malta are balanced on a fine edge, each party is unwilling to stop the bird massacres and illegal trapping fro
m taking place for fear of upsetting the hunting lobby and ultimately their election to office.

Typical of this weakness of the Government of Malta was when, hunting cabins in some of Malta's 5,000 year old temples were ordered to be removed The temples were attacked and damaged or destroyed by hunters who opposed their removal. The government has now back tracked on removing the cabins.

Thanks for reading this, further information can be found below.

Michael

Background reading: -

Daily telegraph article on swan massacre.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml =%2Fnews%2F2002%2F02%2F24%2Fwswa n24.xml

Swan massacre photographs.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2002/0127/l17.htm l

Police report on Honey buzzard Massacre
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?i d=99029&hilite=buzzards+900

Some of my letters to the Times and Sunday Times of Malta
New hunting rules, penalties needed
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?i d=99782&hilite=fitzgibbons
Gun Ownership
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?i d=96637&hilite=fitzgibbons
Balanced view
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?i d=92414&hilite=fitzgibbons
Setting and example
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?i d=89401&hilite=fitzgibbons

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