Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri has reported seeing no poaching of protected birds taking place outside his office window.
Mr Camilleri, who is also the minister responsible for hunting and a hunter himself, was speaking after Birdlife reported the ‘massacre’ of a flock of marsh harriers in Delimara.
“I take enforcement very seriously. That’s why, from time to time, I peek out of the window of my office at the ministry to make sure there isn’t any poaching going on,” Mr Camilleri told Bis-Serjetà.
“To be honest I think the issue of poaching is being exaggerated by Birdlife and the media, because I’ve never seen any protected birds being shot down. In fact I half-suspect that poachers don’t exist at all, and are just an attempt to make hunters look bad,” he added.
Emphasising the difference between hunters and poachers, the minister said:
“I don’t understand how someone who shoots birds that the Government allows him to could possibly shoot birds that the Government doesn’t allow him to. They’re two completely different concepts.”
Mr Camilleri said he also checked for poaching whenever he was stuck in traffic while waiting to board the ferry to Malta.
“And occasionally I’ll message some friends who are hunters to ask if they’ve seen poaching going, and they always reply in the negative. If they do exist, these people are basically ghosts. Or maybe they aren’t people at all, but other-worldly beings who have a taste for protected birds.”
Mr Camilleri also thanked hunting federation FKNK for their offer to help catch the poachers responsible for the incident in Delimara.
“Understandably, FKNK members have never managed to catch a poacher, but it’s nice that they try.”
