Last Hunt Standing

The island of Malta, 100 miles south of Sicily, sits squarely in the path of a Mediterranean flyway traveled by more than 300 migratory species. It is a common stopover for birds coming back to Europe after wintering in North Africa. Trouble is, Malta holds the distinction of being the only country in the European Union that still allows spring hunting—of European Turtle Doves and quail. It’s illegal to hunt migratory species, but the specified window of legal hunting likely puts these species at higher risk of being shot accidentally.

The two-week spring hunting window is a tradition hunters have managed to keep alive in recent years, even as calls to end the practice have grown louder. This month, the hunters fought off their biggest challenge yet: a nationwide referendum that would have outlawed the practice.

Supporters of spring hunting won the April 12 vote arguing that if their opponents prevailed, more bans would follow on things like fireworks and motorsports. Still, they only triumphed by just a sliver: 50.44 percent to 49.56

Local hunters like Stefan Micallef were jubilant; On Facebook Micallef thanked those who voted in favor of keeping the hunting season. “I promise I will do my utmost to follow the law and to show responsibility while practicing this dear hobby of ours,” he wrote on April 12.

Less than two days later Micallef was arrested for illegally shooting an endangered Common cuckoo. Volunteers for BirdLife Malta captured video of Micallef not only killing the bird, but stashing it under a bush after realizing his mistake.

The volunteers called police, who collected the cuckoo and the video. Micallef was arraigned in a Maltese court the next morning. His hunting license was suspended, his gun and ammunition confiscated, and he will be forced to pay a €2,500 fine ($2,703)—the maximum penalty for shooting a cuckoo.  

Western European Cuckoo populations have been on a steep decline in recent years. In 2013, BirdLife found the UK’s cuckoo population was half what it was in the late ‘80s—making their biannual stopovers in Malta all the more perilous. (Other migratory birds at risk in the area include the Pallid Harrier and European Bee-eater.)

The court didn’t go far enough though, according to many Maltese on Twitter. They are calling on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to end the hunting season immediately, using the hashtags  #closetheseason and #JosephZommKelmtek. (The latter translates to: “Joseph, keep your promise.”) Muscat, who came out in favor of spring hunting before the referendum, declared this weekend that the vote afforded hunters “one last chance:”

Hunting community has been given a chance, one last chance. They must now actively help authorities enforce + identify criminals -JM #malta

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) April 12, 2015

The prime minister may not have listened—the season, which concludes April 30, remains open in Malta—but the hunters seemed to have heeded the warning.

The hunters' federation kicked Micallef out of their organization after his sentencing. And a second man who was arrested for illegally shooting a Lapwing only a day after Micallef was sentenced wound up serving a three-month jail term. That man had been turned in by a group of hunters. 

Editor's Note: BirdLife Malta's efforts are part of the wider BirdLife International initiative to protect these birds across the Mediterranean region—learn more about that work here. BirdLife International is the largest conservation partnership in the world, and National Audubon Society serves as a BirdLife partner in the Western Hemisphere.