In Cyprus, over recent weeks, the ‘Committee Against Bird Slaughter’ (CABS) has monitored familiar trapping sites in the Larnaca and Famagusta districts.
Despite intensive searches, only eleven active trapping sites were found, with a total of 57 limesticks discovered, mostly on fruit-bearing trees.
Two bird trappers were caught by the CABS team, in collaboration with the Game and Fauna Service and the Cyprus Police. Under national legislation, number 152 (1) of 2003, regarding the protection and management of wild birds and hunting, these two men will face fines of around €9,200 each for illegal bird trapping in spring.
“The high fines for illegal springtime bird trapping, combined with the intense monitoring efforts by CABS and BirdLife Cyprus, have had a decisive impact on reducing these crimes in April and May,” stated Bostjan Debersek, Wildlife Crime Officer.
He also added that in spring 2021, four times the number of active trapping sites were found compared to this year, in the same area that was checked this year.
The NGO expresses that all data clearly show that cases of illegal bird poaching in spring have significantly decreased, following the introduction of higher fines in 2017, combined with the payment of these four-digit fines by the culprits subsequently caught.
CABS states that poachers seem to have learned their lesson in spring, and this would be consistent year-round if the same penalties were applied in autumn cases, where illegal trapping remains rampant and existing fines are strictly reduced, starting at just €200.
“The next logical step would be to change the law again and use the same proven, successful measures for the protection of migrating birds in autumn and winter, as in spring. If the Republic of Cyprus truly wants to entirely curb illegal trapping, then half measures don’t make sense,” concluded Wildlife Crime Officer Bostjan Debersek.
