Slaughter sanctioned by Cyprus government

28/08/2006 00:00:00 Thousands of Europe’s most beleaguered dove will be illegally shot from the sky in Cyprus next week. The Cypriot government has granted a two day open season on turtle doves, a move that flouts European law protecting birds during their spring migration. As a result, thousands of these beautiful but declining birds will be slaughtered just days before they would begin nesting.

Ministers claim that the country’s 45,000 thousand hunters have too little chance to kill these birds in the autumn shooting season. Yet, between 19,000 and 30,000 turtle doves are being hunted in Cyprus in August and September, according to government figures. Alistair Gammell, the RSPB’s International Director, said: ‘This decision is a blatant two fingers to EU law, to hopes of helping this bird recover its numbers and to civilized common sense. The EU must leave the Cypriot government in no doubt that playing fast and loose with EU laws and the future of this species is unacceptable. Too many of these birds are already being slaughtered every year.’

Turtle dove numbers have dropped across Europe. The birds in Cyprus will be shot on a number of coastal sites between 6am and 11am this Sunday and next Wednesday. They will be flying over Cyprus at the end of their 3,000-mile migration from Africa to breeding grounds in Europe.

The EU Birds Directive of 1979 bans shooting when birds are migrating to nesting sites to safeguard their breeding efforts. Prospects for wild birds in Cyprus were looking up when the government began tackling the huge amount of illegal bird trapping in the country. This decision means the island’s image and its lure for tourists will now be tarnished once more.

Martin Hellicar, Executive Manager of BirdLife Cyprus, said: ‘This decision is a very serious step back for bird conservation and hunting in Cyprus. We are not opposed to legal, sustainable hunting, but this is not what we are faced with here.’