This paragraph was taken from the article below.
<<snip>>
< "Maltese hunters decimated thousands of birds of prey over the years. On
several
occasions, thousands were killed in one day. In April 1987, thousands of red
footed falcons were killed in one day. In both 1993 and 1996, over 50
short-toed
eagles were shot on two particular days," the Gozitan says.
Only yesterday, a flamingo was killed at Salina, once again angering
bystanders
shocked by the wanton destruction of such a beautiful bird.>
<<snip>>
Sunday, May 26, 2002
< Dossier on hunting passed on to European Parliament >
The President of the European Parliament Pat Cox was last week given an
extensive dossier entitled "An urgent plea to urge the European Parliament
for a
total ban on bird shooting in Malta" by a Gozitan who prefers to remain
anonymous locally, fearing reprisals by hunters.
Mr Cox was in Malta last week on an official visit.
The Gozitan, who passed on a copy of the dossier to The Sunday Times, said
he
suggested to Mr Cox that the document would also be passed on to the EU
commissioner to the Environment Margot Wallström.
Copies of the dossier have also been sent to PROACT, the Internet-based
association working for the protection of birds, and David Camilleri, the
artist
who had raised Maltese hunters' ire with his video installation called
Il-Gagga
(the cage), in which he exposed the cruelties of hunting and trapping.
The dossier includes a brief introduction about hunting and trapping in
Malta.
The rest is a collection of press cuttings from English-language newspapers
dealing with hunting and trapping.
The press cuttings range from letters to the editor to news items about
rare,
large or colourful birds that were reported shot by Maltese hunters.
Articles accompanied with photos of dead or wounded protected birds, such as
swallows, swifts, bee eaters, hoopoes, orioles, or large birds such as
swans,
herons, harriers and shearwaters, are use to prove the point that Maltese
hunters kill all kinds of birds.
The Gozitan argues that Maltese hunters cannot be trusted to shoot only at
game
birds because they literally shoot at anything that flies.
Various press cuttings show that the recent killing of a huge number of
honey
buzzards in just one afternoon was not a one-off phenomenon.
"Maltese hunters decimated thousands of birds of prey over the years. On
several
occasions, thousands were killed in one day. In April 1987, thousands of red
footed falcons were killed in one day. In both 1993 and 1996, over 50
short-toed
eagles were shot on two particular days," the Gozitan says.
"The EU cannot trust Maltese hunters, who claim that hunting is a tradition
and
are putting pressure so that they will continue to be allowed to shoot in
spring. It is not just quails and turtle doves they are after. They want to
kill
anything that flies and the EU cannot be seen to be collaborating in the
massacre being committed year in year out by hunters," the Gozitan said.
Only yesterday, a flamingo was killed at Salina, once again angering
bystanders
shocked by the wanton destruction of such a beautiful bird.
This article may also be viewed at
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=100833
--------------------------
david camilleri
http://www.MaltaTouristAction.org
Proact, campaigning for birds and their habitats .... your contribution
DOES make a difference. Join the http://www.proactnow.org/team/
http://www.proactnow.org
Discuss at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proactpanel/
Stay informed http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proactnews/
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