A land where if it flies, it dies.

last updated 8 January 2015

Malta

Anne Penketh

Maltese hunters are a bloodthirsty bunch, said Anne Penketh in the London Independent. They shoot “anything that flies, from birds of prey to quail and skylarks.” Having already hunted most native species, including the famous Maltese falcon, to extinction, the hunters now concentrate on visiting species. Millions of birds use the island as a stopover during their annual migrations to and from Africa, and each year the hunters bag up to 2 million of them. It’s a proud tradition on the island, dating back hundreds of years—long before any endangered species act. Up until recently, “the stuffed heads of protected species would be proudly displayed by drivers on their rear-view mirrors.” Those days are supposed to be over. Malta joined the European Union last year, and E.U. laws are strict. Hunters are supposed to be fined if they kill protected species or if they shoot any bird during its breeding season. But laws are only as tough as the people who enforce them. And in Malta, many of the police “are also hunters.”