Brussels, 25/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - 25 million birds are being killed illegally every year across the Mediterranean, according to a scientific review by BirdLife International published on Wednesday 19 August. This is the first scientific review of its kind to be carried out in the region by this NGO. It draws up a list of the ten countries with the highest annual rates for illegally killing of birds. Although countries currently hit by conflict, such as Syria and Libya, feature high in the rankings, some European nations also fare poorly.
Therefore Italy, where 5.6 million birds are estimated to be killed illegally every year, is second only to Egypt for the estimated mean number of illegal killings each year, with the Famagusta area of Cyprus the single worst location in the Mediterranean. Other European countries featuring in the top 10 are: Greece (0.7 million), France (0.5 million), Croatia (0.5 million) and Albania (0.3 million). This further demonstrates why the Birds Directive (Directive 79409 EEC), currently under review by the European Commission, should be better implemented, rather than revised. It should be pointed out that the “Birds” and “Habitats” directives are currently undergoing a health check in view of their possible revision, much to the annoyance of the environmental protection NGOs (see EUROPE 11367).
Despite not ranking in the top 10 overall, Malta (where 108,000 birds are estimated to be killed illegally each year) is still seeing the region's highest estimated number of birds illegally killed per square kilometre.
BirdLife International CEO, Patricia Zurita, stated: “This review shows the gruesome extent to which birds are being killed illegally in the Mediterranean. Populations of some species that were once abundant in Europe are declining, with a number even in free-fall and disappearing altogether”. “Our birds deserve safer flyways and we want conservation efforts to be increased now, before it's too late”, she added.
The report highlights the ten species affected most by this illegal slaughter and estimates that the Eurasian Chaffinch comes top of the 'kill list' (an estimated 2.9 million are killed each year), with Eurasian Blackcap (1.8 million), Common Quail (1.6 million) and Song Thrush (1.2 million).
The review also exposes some of the common methods of killing in use across the Mediterranean, including illegal shooting, capture in nets and recordings of bird sounds used to lure large numbers of birds to illegal trapping locations. The report explains that many of the cruel methods used, such as lime sticks that glue the birds to branches, cause considerable suffering to the birds. (Aminata Niang)