Yahoo – AFP,
9 Mar 2015
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More than two million migratory birds were killed in Cyprus last autumn to feed
an illicit taste for the delicacy on the Mediterranean island, a conservationist
group said Monday (AFP Photo/Francois Nascimbeni)
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Nicosia
(AFP) - More than two million migratory birds were killed in Cyprus last autumn
to feed an illicit taste for the delicacy on the Mediterranean island, a
conservationist group said Monday.
The survey
by Birdlife Cyprus was carried out in the key season between September and
October and estimates the number of birds indiscriminately trapped in nets or
with limesticks.
The group
said its surveillance showed "a dramatic situation of this illegal
activity sadly taking place," with the number of mist nets used almost
doubling in 2014 from the year before.
It found
some 16 kilometres (10 miles) of net supports active during autumn and more
than 6,000 limesticks were reported from enforcement agencies and other
non-governmental organisations.
Limesticks
are twigs covered in a sticky substance that instantly trap birds that alight
onto them, leaving them to dangle helplessly.
"With
these trapping levels for autumn 2014, BirdLife Cyprus estimated that over two
million birds could have been killed across the whole of Cyprus," said
Birdlife, the most since it began monitoring the activity 13 years ago.
Such
methods are used to catch blackcaps and song thrushes, much sought after
delicacies that fetch up to 80 euros ($86) for a dozen at Cypriot restaurants.
The Game
and Fauna Service, in charge of the fight against poaching in Cyprus, says the
illegal trade is worth about 15 million euros a year.
Birdlife
said the figures showed illegal trappings were now "out of control"
and that more needed to be done by the authorities in Cyprus, including the
British military at bases on the island.
'Out of
control'
A clampdown
on restaurants was needed to prevent Cyprus revisiting the 1990s when up to 10
million birds were estimated to have been killed.
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An estimated 60 species are listed as threatened or in need of protection
are snared in illegal Cypriot traps (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)
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Autumn is
the peak season for bird trapping with an estimated 3,000-4,000 poachers
involved. The numbers for spring are lower because the birds are less plump.
Birdlife
Cyprus chief Clairie Papazoglou said poaching was a "serious, persistent
and growing problem" in "what has been the worst year with the
highest trapping levels since the start of the monitoring programme in
2002".
Tim Stowe
of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds called for zero-tolerance by
the British military.
"The
report highlights the illegal trapping of songbirds on the British military
base has escalated and we are urging the Ministry of Defence... to resolve it
before this autumn's migration," said Stowe.
A huge
crackdown on trappers and restaurants was enforced before Cyprus joined the
European Union in 2004, but now conservationists say the government lacks the
political will to eradicate the trade.
Birdlife
has also called for tougher sentencing available to the courts to be enforced
while pinpointing a need to change attitudes towards killing and eating
migratory birds.
The law
provides for penalties of up to three years in jail and fines as high as 17,000
euros but these are rarely imposed.
During
winter, millions of birds take refuge in Cyprus from colder northern climates.
An
estimated 60 species are listed as threatened or in need of protection are
snared in illegal Cypriot traps.
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