Matthew Hill takes us from the windswept Maltese countryside, to the corridors of Brussels, to investigate allegations of widespread illegal bird hunting on Malta.
NATURE: Bird Wars on Malta
Twice each year the skies above the Mediterranean island of Malta are filled with the spectacle of thousands of migrating birds. Kestrels, bee-eaters, honey-buzzards, turtle dove and quail, among other species fly first north, in the Spring, to the breeding grounds of Europe.
They return south in the Autumn to their wintering grounds in sub Saharan Africa. If their migration takes them over Malta, twice each year they must run the gauntlet of hunters' guns. Many of the migrant bird species are protected, only two species are legal quarry for Maltese hunters.
Investigative journalist Matthew Hill travels to Malta to talk to the hunters about the age-long culture of hunting birds on Malta and to investigate allegations of widespread illegal hunting.
Presented by Matthew Hill
Produced by Lizz Pearson.
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Broadcast
- Tue 31 Jul 2012 11:00Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Radio 4