Bird hunters celebrate as Malta rejects hunting ban
Spring hunting season set to begin after a closely contested referendum pitted conservation against tradition
The spring hunting of quail and turtle doves is to continue in Malta after hunters celebrated a narrow victory in a referendum which could have banned the controversial practice.
Just 50.44 per cent of Maltese voted in favour of allowing hunters to continue to kill the birds during the spring hunting season, which begins this week and runs to the end of April.
The head of the country’s hunting association said he was "ecstatic" that a ban had been rejected, the BBC reported. Joe Perici Calascione of the Federation for Hunting and Conservation said that spring hunting was an "integral part" of Maltese tradition.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Malta is the only country in the EU that allows the recreational spring hunting of the two species, under strict regulations. There are 10,000 licenced hunters who are legally required to declare every time they go hunting and make a kill.
"We're the most regulated country in Europe with regards to hunting," said Calascione. "The hunting we do is sustainable."
Responding to critics who argue that the practice is cruel, one hunter told the BBC: "I'm sure [those people] eat chicken, they eat rabbits. You have to kill to eat. What we hunt, we eat. We don't throw it away."
Birdlife Malta, which led the campaign to ban the practice, said it was “devastated” to lose by such a narrow margin. Conservationists want it banned because it takes place during a crucial migration season.
They argue the practice must be banned in spring, as hunters are killing birds that have survived the winter and are returning to Europe to breed. The turtle dove population is especially threatened, whose numbers have fallen almost 80 per cent since 1980.
"This isn't just a Maltese problem. These birds are moving between Africa and mainland Europe – it's an African-European issue," BirdLife Malta executive director Steve Micklewright told Deutsche Welle.
Campaigners also argue that hunters dominate the restricted amount of open space on the island. "We never manage to walk freely and use what's left of our countryside,” said the campaign’s spokeswoman Moira Delia. “We come across these vulgar and very intimidating men, armed, who shout at us and send us home."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Are 'judge shopping' rules a blow to Republicans?
Today's Big Question How the abortion pill case got to the Supreme Court
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
'A great culture will be lost if the EV brigade gets its way'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Can the world really wean itself off coal?
Today's Big Question 'Record' global consumption is set to fall soon but growing demand in China and India could increase tensions
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The microplastics hurricanes blowing across North America
Under the Radar New research confirms global pervasiveness of harmful microplastic pollution
By The Week Staff Published
-
What can Cop28 really achieve?
Today's Big Question Climate summit in UAE proves controversial as UN warns world is falling short of global warming targets
By The Week UK Published
-
A23a: why world's biggest iceberg is on the move
The Explainer The mass of ice is four times the size of New York and 'essentially' an island
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Libya floods: death toll set to rise with 10,000 reported missing
More than 6,000 people reported dead, with hundreds of bodies still washing ashore
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
Thousands feared dead in catastrophic Libya flooding
Speed Read A powerful Mediterranean storm pummeled Libya's northeast coast, wiping out entire neighborhoods
By Peter Weber Published
-
Huge earthquake on Turkey-Syria border leaves thousands dead
feature Rescue teams in both countries are continuing to search for survivors after second quake hits
By Asya Likhtman Published