Drones join war on songbird trappers at Cyprus military bases

Ben Farmer, defence correspondent 

24 MARCH 2018 • 6:00AM

Police on British military bases in Cyprus have used drones and night vision goggles to turn the tide in a campaign against illegal trappers catching and killing hundreds of thousands of songbirds.

Officers working with forces personnel estimate they have cut the number of migratory songbirds caught in trappers’ nets by as much as 70 per cent and destroyed large amounts of kit used to catch them.

The year-long crackdown on illegal bird poaching on the British sovereign bases in Cyprus has resulted in a "huge" drop in the number of poachers operating inside the bases' territory.

Small migratory birds such as blackcaps are considered a traditional delicacy by some Cypriots and sophisticated trapping feeds a multimillion-pound illicit trade.

Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, said: “Bird trapping is not only a cruel and barbaric trade, it lines the pockets of criminal gangs to the tune of thousands of pounds.

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Bird trappers changing their methods say activists

MARCH 8TH, 2018  GEORGE PSYLLIDES CYPRUS

A new hunting law is failing to address bird trapping, conservationists said on Wednesday, as they criticised authorities for not doing enough to tackle the problem.

According to the Germany-based Committee Against Bird Slaughter (Cabs) and the Foundation Pro Biodiversity (Spa) the new law seems to have marked a general decrease in trapping activity, but the general situation is not as positive as it would appear.

Reporting the findings of their autumn 2017 bird protection camp in Cyprus, the organisations said trappers have now changed their methods because of the law.

“A new hunting law is failing to address bird trapping, conservationists said on Wednesday, as they criticised authorities for not doing enough to tackle the problem.

According to the Germany-based Committee Against Bird Slaughter (Cabs) and the Foundation Pro Biodiversity (Spa) the new law seems to have marked a general decrease in trapping activity, but the general situation is not as positive as it would appear.

Reporting the findings of their autumn 2017 bird protection camp in Cyprus, the organisations said trappers have now changed their methods because of the law.

“The consequence of the new law is that trappers are now shifting from mist nets to limesticks,” said Alexander Heyd, Cabs general director. “We have observed an increase in the number of poachers using limesticks. They realise that the fines for mist-netting are a deterrent, as long as the authorities enforce the law in the field, whilst those for limesticks are totally ineffective. If the goal of the law is indeed to tackle bird trapping, it is failing. Limesticks are still widespread and make huge damages to migrating birds”.

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Data on Maltese bird trapping kept under wraps

BirdLife Malta was refused access to data about more than 8,000 sites where trapping is authorised each year.

The sprawl of trapping sites that has characterised trapping seasons over the past years has resulted in unaccounted destruction of pristine habitats, with little or no enforcement. This has been confirmed following various reports filed by BirdLife Malta requesting action over non-registered trapping sites over the past trapping seasons for which no action has resulted to date.

According to legislation in force since 2014 - when the finch trapping derogation was coined by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) - trappers were allowed to register up to two sites per trapping licence where trapping sites could be set up. The framework legislation permitting trapping of finches and of Song Thrush and Golden Plover, only allows for the re-activation of trapping sites if they have existed before 2012 (as seen from aerial photography), and were not located on protected habitats within Natura 2000 sites. The vetting process which was carried out solely by WBRU officials prior to trapping seasons has since then authorised up to 8,000 sites for each trapping season – an area larger than the size of Valletta.

Despite the fact that the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) is the competent authority when it comes to the protection of land, WBRU has been the entity in charge of authorising this land use, with ERA only giving its go-ahead during Ornis Committee meetings, on the condition of enforcement being carried out by WBRU and police. During the Ornis Committee meeting on the 10th of May 2017, ERA voted in favour of a finch trapping season on the condition that “compliance and enforcement is guaranteed and implemented by WBRU and the police force”. However, despite queries sent over the years to all authorities to publicise the 8,000 plus locations where WBRU has authorised such trapping, the Environment Ministry has refused to divulge this information quoting privacy issues, with all other entities concerned with the enforcement namely ERA and the police redirecting such queries to WBRU.

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Government blasted for opening trapping season, closing an eye to Floriana bird black market

Friday, 20 October 2017, 11:37Last update: about 4 days ago

Birdlife Malta and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) have blasted the government for opening another bird trapping season.

The season opened yesterday and will last until the end of the year.

BirdLife Malta was critical of the decision, noting that Malta was waiting for an imminent verdict in the European Court of Justice case against the derogation of finch trapping. “The trapping derogation was reinstated in 2014 without even being mentioned in any electoral manifesto and hence without an electoral mandate,” the organization said.

 “Trapping is prohibited across the EU and this was made clear even in ECJ Advocate General Eleanor V. E. Sharpston's Opinion delivered in July,” Birdlife said.

The opinion had found that Malta had no judicious cause to trap birds and questioned the level of enforcement and supervision.

“With almost 4,000 trappers allowed to set their nets on a daily basis, the probability of having the quotas reached and surpassed is high. This however will fail to materialise statistically since it is the trappers themselves that have to report their catches,” Birdlife said.

The organization also added that it had seen trapping taking place even before the season had opened.

CABS also slammed the government for opening the season, saying that “it seems that this government is willing to let Malta pay a high price to please a small group of trappers whose selfish hobby has destroyed bird populations, the maltese countryside and Malta´s reputation abroad.”

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Malta announces finch trapping season in face of EU legal action

David Lindsay Sunday, 9 October 2016, 09:30 Last update: about 16 days ago 

27,500 finches legally put up for grabs

The government announced on Friday the opening of the bird trapping season, despite the fact that Malta is facing legal action by the European Commission over allowing the trapping of seven species of finch.

The bird trapping season will open on 20 October and will close on 31 December, according to a Legal Notice published on Friday.

The government has allowed for the trapping of a total of 33,200 birds – 27,500 of which are finches. Each trapping licence holder will be allowed to trap 10 finches during the season, and six song thrushes or golden plovers – meaning that each trapper will be allowed a total of 16 birds over the nine-week season.

In September 2015 the European Commission referred Malta to the European Court of Justice for its decision to allow finch trapping as of 2014. Malta was allowed a transitional arrangement in the EU Accession Treaty to phase out finch trapping, taking into account the time required to establish a captive breeding programme. This transitional arrangement expired in 2008.

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Majority of Egyptian bird trapping and killing found to be illegal

Birdwatch News Archive

Posted on: 14 May 2016

A study has revealed that more than 75 per cent of bird killing and trapping in Egypt is illegal.

BirdLife International has release new data on Mediterranean hotspot for illegal bird killing, and a graphic video of the killing methods (below).

Nature Conservation Egypt (BirdLife in Egypt) and the BirdLife International Secretariat released today a study on the socio-economic drivers of hunting and trapping practices in Egypt. With an estimated six million birds killed and trapped illegally every year, Egypt is one of the most dangerous places for migratory birds in the Mediterranean, followed by Italy and Lebanon. BirdLife International has also released a video to document the Mediterranean massacre that has already reached more than two million people in the first 48 hours of its availability.

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Good news as 'more birds crossing safely' over Cyprus, avoiding trappers

CYPRUS - FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE• Monday, 11 April, 2016

Spring trapping has been showing clear signs of decrease in the past few years and more birds are crossing safely in Cyprus, Alexander Heyd, Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) General Director, has said.

Since the beginning of April, the environmental organization Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and Pro Biodiversity Foundation (SPA) are conducting their 9th spring Bird Protection Camp in Cyprus with the code name "Safe Island", a press release issued here today by CABS says.

The goal of ‘Safe Island’ camp is to protect the migratory birds travelling through Cyprus on their long journey from Africa to Europe.

Millions of those birds, in addition to resident bird species, are falling prey each year of poachers.

The Camp aims at detecting active trapping sites with mistnets and/or limesticks and reporting them to the local authorities (Anti-Poaching Squad of the Cyprus Police and the Sovereign British Area Police) in order to combat this illegal phenomenon and ensure a safe flight for the birds.

Read on ...

The ‘big business’ of bird trapping in Cyprus

DECEMBER 1ST, 2015 

 

By George Psyllides

A bird protection campaign in Cyprus has seen 36 bird trappers arrested and a large number or poaching equipment destroyed, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) announced on Tuesday.

According to a news release, more than 3,314 illegal limesticks and 155 nets were destroyed during a bird protection camp conducted by CABS in cooperation with the SPA (Foundation for Biodiversity) on Cyprus this autumn.

Dubbed Operation Safe Passage, the camp covered five weeks from September to October 2015 and involved more than 30 conservationists and bird experts from six EU-countries.

CABS said its teams found and reported 162 illegal bird trapping sites equipped with 3,314 limesticks and 155 nets spanning more than 3.1 kilometres to the authorities.

According to CABS a total of 64 illegal electronic bird lures have also been discovered by the activists and later confiscated by the police.

Hotspots of illegal trapping activity this autumn were Ayios Nicolaos and Cape Pyla inside the Eastern Sovereign Base Area (Dhekelia British military base) and Avgorou and Liopetri in the Republic.

Volunteers found 855 trapped birds from 26 different species.

“All could be released after some days of intensive cleaning and rehabilitation in the CABS office.”

Read on …

Mass bird trapping seizures

Published on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 14:44:42 GMT

The SBA Police in the ESBA launched a string of raids in Pyla over the past week which dealt a devastating blow to the illegal bird trapping community. 

During three early morning operations carried out on November 6, 7 and 10, the dedicated action team swooped on various locations and seized a huge amount of poaching-related items.

In total, 57 mistnets were seized, alongside eight CD players, 28 loud speakers, 725 metres of cable, 17 car batteries, 196 iron poles, 90 concrete bases, 500 metres of carpet, 13 lime sticks and 30 concrete bases, which were destroyed on site. 

Police officers on the scene also managed to release 184 wild birds, the majority of which were Thrushes, before they were killed and sold on the black market. 

Speaking on Monday after the third raid in five days, Chief Inspector Mustafa Kemal said the seizures would have been felt by the bird trapping community.

He said: “As we have been doing throughout the migrating bird season, we have sent out another strong message to the bird trapping community that this will not be tolerated within the SBAs. 

“Bird trapping is a highly-illegal activity and we will not let up in our pursuit to punish those participating in it.”

- See more at:

CABS uncover widespread bird trapping: 5 men to be taken to court

BY GOZO NEWS · AUGUST 4, 2014

Persons unknown have turned an empty water reservoir at Ta´ Qali into a giant bird trap, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) said today.

Volunteers of CABS discovered the site Saturday afternoon when they followed the calls of an illegal bird caller imitating the songs of protected bird species. CABS said the search led to a deep basin covering an area of 40×20 metres.

On the bottom of the reservoir trappers had set up 5 vertical mist nets and several plastic bird decoys around a puddle of water. “The whole structure has been transformed into a massive underground trap which was exclusively designed to attract and catch protected birds out of the sight of the police”, CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows reports.

ALE officers were alerted and climbed down into the 10 metre-deep basin to remove the nets and electronic bird caller. Investigations to reveal the identity of the poachers and the owner of the reservoir are ongoing, CABS said.

The find in Ta´ Qali is only one out of 10 illegal bird trapping sites which have been found by CABS and dismantled by the police in the last 8 days. “These installations pose a huge threat to birds, and often other wildlife such as hedgehogs and snakes become entangled and die,” Miss Burrows stated.

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Illegal bird trap user caught on camera

A part-time game keeper from Herefordshire has been caught and fined for setting an illegal trap designed to harm birds of prey.

Wayne Edward Priday was ordered to pay more than £500 for using a pole trap - a device with a powerful spring placed on top of a post or pole where birds of prey are likely to perch.

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Cyprus losing millions in tourism revenue over bird trapping

By Poly Pantelides

CYPRUS may be losing millions of euros in tourism revenues every year because of the negative publicity from the state’s tolerance of illegal bird trapping, the cruelty of which has resulted in thousands of complaints to authorities, a conservation organisation has said.

A bird stuck on a limestick

A Terra Cypria study said 5,200 people from 81 countries wrote to Cypriot authorities in 2010 – when New Yorker magazine reported on illegal bird trapping on the island – to say they would not be visiting the island because of the practice.

Of those, 3,900 hailed from countries that traditionally visit Cyprus. Using Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) figures on how much those people would have spent on their visit, the direct loss of revenue was estimated at €4 million. As a rule of thumb, Terra Cypria said that the CTO assumes that for every person bothering to write, ten others did not, raising the loss of potential revenue to an estimated €41 million.

The illegal trapping market is worth some €12 million a year.

BirdLife Cyprus estimates that 2.5 million birds are illegally trapped every year in Cyprus, including threatened and endangered species. Caught on limesticks or mist nets, the birds face a slow and painful death. Tiny songbirds, locally known as ambelopoulia, end up served as the tastiest of delicacies. Others are killed and thrown away as collateral damage. BirdLife says the trappers consider it bad luck to free trapped birds.

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Police seize trapping nets and protected rare birds – CABS

Update: CABS have said the Dotterel trapper from Sarraflu filmed by CABS this morning was identified and is being questioned in the Victoria police station at the moment.

Earlier this afternoon CABS said that its volunteers today caught a bird trapper who was trapping dotterel (Birwina) with a huge net installation near Sarraflu, Gozo. According to the conservationists, early this morning at around 08.15 a Bird Guards team filmed a man in a blue T-shirt – probably in his late twenties – activating a clap net and setting out cages containing live decoy birds.

“Shortly before the arrival of the police the man received a phone call and began to deactivate the nets. As he realised that the officers had almost reached the site, he panicked and fled with the birds in their cages,” reports CABS member Craig Redmond, whose team had discovered the site.

“His flight will not rescue him from the long arm of the Maltese law however. “We have photos of the man setting his net and with the decoy birds in his hand. Identification should be no problem for the police.” Craig Redmond comments.

CABS said that when the police arrived on the site “they discovered four 50 m long clap nets, a pond and plastic decoys and a single live Dotterel in a cage. After an exhaustive search of over an hour the Bird Guards found a further 6 cages and live birds that the man had discarded along the path of his hasty flight.

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Goldfinch trapping in Kent

Traps set to catch wild birds

August 2013. According to Kent Wildife Trust someone has been setting traps to catch goldfinches in Kent. It is an offence to trap wild birds without a licence, and if caught the perpetrator can be fined up to £1000.

An RSPCA Inspector found a caged goldfinch hanging in a hedgerow next to Ashford Warren nature reserve. Other goldfnches are attracted by the singing of the trapped goldfinch, and land on glue-covered sticks that are placed in the surrounding bushes. The poacher then collects the birds. The birds often end up with broken legs but can still be sold on.

Kent Wildlife Trust are asking visitors to the countryside to be aware of this unsavoury practice and look out for bird feeders in unusual places and particularly birds in small cages. This should be reported to the RSPCA. 

Kent Police arrested a man in March in Waterdales, near Gravesend, in Kent. In July 2013, the police authorities found mist nets set around Cardiff Wetlands.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kent-goldfinch.html

Mist nets set at Newport Wetlands – Police appeal for information

Birds left to die in mist nets

July 2013. Gwent Police have appealed for information following the discovery of illegally erected ‘mist nets' at Newport Wetlands National Nature Reserve. The nets are used to catch birds such as Finches, which are then sold on. Other birds which become trapped in the nets are sometimes left to die.

Tom Dalrymple of Natural Resources Wales, who own and manage the reserve in partnership with Newport City Council and RSPB Cymru said: "It's very sad that these illegal trappers, not only attempt to take birds from the wild, but appear to have left some birds to die slowly in the net".

Information

Anyone with any information about the nets, or who may have seen anything suspicious at Newport Wetlands in the last week is asked to ring Gwent Police by calling 101 quoting Log 272 08/07/13.

Newport Wetlands

Newport Wetlands is an important site for over-wintering birds with increasing numbers of black-tailed godwits, wigeon, shovelers, teal, shelducks and pintails. Hen harriers, short-eared owls and even bitterns may be an exciting sight during the winter, whilst little egrets now frequent the reserve throughout the year. Wildlife spectacles are not restricted to birds, with many species of orchids, butterflies and dragonflies present at the site. 

Read more about visiting Newport Wetlands 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/newport-mist-nets.html

Trapping of millions of birds in Egypt threatens European bird populations

Migratory murder on Egypt's coast 

May 2013. Disturbing evidence has emerged from the Mediterranean coast of Egypt: Bavarian Broadcasting have documented a total of 700 kilometres of nets set to catch birds. The birds are then offered as a delicacy in markets and restaurants across Egypt. 

The nets are very difficult to avoid for many migratory birds as they form a barrier across their flight path either across the Mediterranean or the Sahara when they are looking for a place to rest. The exact number of birds caught in this way can only be estimated, but experts believe that tens of millions are killed each year. 

That songbirds are on the menu (and targeted by many hunters) in many countries of southern Europe and North Africa is nothing new. The existence of fishing nets on the coast of Egypt has long been known, but what is new is the scale of netting, which now extends from Libya across almost the entire coastline of the Egypt to the Sinai - interrupted only in a few places by military installations or major cities.

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News Summary: Cyprus jobless turn to bird trapping

DESPERATE TRAPPERS: The economic crisis is luring many out-of-work Cypriots back into the centuries-old trade of songbird trapping.

PRIZED DELICACY: For centuries, the migratory songbirds have been a prized delicacy among Cypriots. They are also an illegal one, as entry into the European Union forced Cyprus to ban the tradition of catching the creatures, some endangered, in nets or on sticks slathered with a glue-like substance.

NO ALTERNATIVES: Trappers risk stiff fines and even jail time by supplying an underground market for the tiny songbirds illicitly served up in the country's tavernas. They say it's their only way to make ends meet.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-01-31/news-summary-cyprus-jobless-turn-to-bird-trapping

Our wildlife is under threat

Published on Saturday 13 October 2012 06:18

RARE birds of prey are being shot, trapped, poisoned and sold for profit in East Sussex.

That is the claim being made by conservation group the RSPB.

Now they are calling on animal lovers to play an active role in helping to protect birds of prey.

Birds of prey are protected by law, yet the latest figures published by the RSPB reveal yet another shameful year of poisoning, shooting and trapping for hen harriers, red kites, buzzards, peregrine falcons and other persecuted species.

In the South East, 40 incidents of wild bird crime were reported to the RSPB Investigations team last year, which accounted for just under 7% of the UK incidents reported in Birdcrime 2011.

These included 21 reported incidents of bird of prey persecution, 2 reports of egg collecting and 11 reports of the taking and sale of wild birds.

Samantha Stokes, speaking for the RSPB in the South East said: “We currently have a once in a lifetime opportunity to tackle these crimes in England and Wales.

“Too little has been done over the years to tackle these sickening attacks, but this could change with proposed reforms of wildlife law and policing.

Continued:  http://www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/news/local-news/our-wildlife-is-under-threat-1-4345388

Government to allow bird trapping

The government has announced a special autumn live-capturing licence to registered trappers. Trapping of song thrush will be allowed between October 20 to December 31, and Golden Plover between October 20 and January 10.

Not more than 5,000 song thrush and 1,150 Golden Plover may be caught throughout the season. Not more than three birds may be caught every day by each trapper, with a season's bag limit of six birds per licence.

The government said in a statement that the licence is available for those already in possession of a valid Carnet de Chasse, and whose authorised trapping sites have registered with the police.

The derogation to allow trapping is being issued in terms of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations.

Trappers shall only be allowed to use traditional manually operated selective clap-nets with the mesh-size of the net not less than 30mm square, operated solely by human intervention, the government said, adding that its recommendation was being made after it considered the recommendations of the Ornis Committee.

No trapping shall be allowed on Xaghri within Natura 2000 sites indicated on maps that will be published by the Environment Director.

Continued: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120925/local/regulations-for-special-autumn-trapping-licence-issued.438377