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G'day fellow birders,
Received the following depressing news from an
Italian friend today.
If you are easily upset, don't read
on!!!
Regards,
Alan
Hunters are behaving the usual way; in Sicily wildlife rescue centres
report injured (or killed) kestrels, buzzards, ospreys, Short-toed Snake-Eagles,
flamingoes, Marsh-Harriers, storks who were migrating towards Africa. On the
first day, a poacher was found by my colleagues in the mountain area north/west
of Milan with 28 protected birds (different finches) shot; nearby a 13 year old
kid with his grandpa was practicing hunting killing other protected birds
(flycatchers). The old guy put himself in BIG troubles for breaking the weapon
laws. South of Milan another guy was found having killed a Lesser Spotted
Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) - highly protected in Europe - and he's going to
face a rather heavy fine. I found a bloody stupid who shot a Tree Pipit (Anthus
trivialis) thinking it was an Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis). He'll be fined
more than 1,000 AU$. In total this is nothing if you consider that a mother bear
with her 1 year old cub has been poisoned in central Italy where a population of
50 is left. Unfortunately, we get only a tiny percentage of the law breakers,
and they know it. But in this period the worst danger does not come from the
stupid or the poachers, but those making the laws. For example, the Brambling
(Fringilla montifringilla) is protected in Europe, but the legislation allows
the hunting of small quantities under strictly
controlled conditions: the
INFS (National Institute for Wildlife) set this "small quantity" for 2003/04 at
52.000. Well, the Regional Government of Veneto (the region of Venice, noth-east
Italy) published a law authorising 60.000 hunters to kill a maximum of 40
bramblings each: this makes 2.400.000... As you see, a pen can make much more
damage than a gun!
Saturday I'll be up in the mountains
too...
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