A new report has revealed that the number of birds illegally trapped and killed on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus increased to over 400,000 last autumn.
The report, published by BirdLife Cyprus and supported by the RSPB and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) details how the number of birds killed has increased by an estimated 90,000 to 435,000 in the autumn of 2023.
Cyprus acts as a strategically important stop-off point for vast numbers of birds including blackcaps and garden warblers on their annual migration from their breeding grounds in Europe to their winter home in Africa.
Every autumn birds are illegally trapped and killed by criminal gangs using mist nets and sticky limesticks hidden in vegetation before being sold to restaurants where they are eaten as a local and expensive delicacy.
Twenty years ago, over two million birds were being illegally caught every year and more than ten million birds were trapped in the 1990s.
In subsequent years the Cypriot law enforcement authorities have worked with BirdLife Cyprus, CABS and the RSPB, which has led to a massive reduction in the number of traps being detected and birds being killed.
Last autumn, though, the work of the anti-poaching unit of the British military base in Cyprus was scaled back, which the report believes was a significant factor behind the increase in number of birds being killed.
“For two decades our international partnership has shown that we can work together to tackle this criminal activity through direct action on the ground backed up by enforcement action. However, this autumn shows that more still needs to be done,” says Mark Thomas, head of RSPB investigations.
“We cannot allow the progress we have made to be undone and the shocking levels of songbird killings to return to the abhorrent levels we once saw. By working together we can make this a thing of the past,” adds Thomas.
Autumn is the main trapping period in Cyprus as this is the time that migrating birds have built up their fat reserves in preparation for their long-haul journey to Africa where they spend the winter. People who illegally eat these birds ghoulishly consider them to be of better quality at this time on account of this higher fat content.
Birds returning from Africa in the spring on the other hand will have depleted most of their fat reserves and are therefore judged to be of lower quality.
To find out more about how the RSPB is working with BirdLife Cyprus and both the British and Cypriot governments to protect songbirds on the island please visit: https://birdlifecyprus.org/combating-bird-crime/
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