On the occasion of the death of a flamingo in Limni Paralimni, OPOK (Federation of Environmental Organizations of Cyprus) and Birdlife, to which the Hunters' Movement reacted, made a statement.
According to a Birdlife announcement: ""Unfortunately, this is not the first time that flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) and other non-predatory bird species have been shot illegally in the otherwise protected Lake Paralimni."
The Hunters' Movement responds to this announcement by characterizing the accusations by the organization "BirdlifeCyprus" as unfounded, as flamingos travel thousands of kilometers and the chances of collecting shrapnel from any wetland in another country where hunting is allowed are increased.
See the announcement:
For the incident with the dead flamingo in the area of Lake Paralimni, we face for the umpteenth time accusations from the organization "Birdlife Cyprus" blaming the death of the bird on the Hunters' shrapnel.
Based on the studies that have been done, the accusations and the fires they throw at us are unfounded, since it is clearly proven that the shrapnel takes time to cause a problem in the intestines, as can be seen in the X-ray that has been posted.
In this case, remember that birds such as flamingos travel thousands of kilometers and the chances of collecting shrapnel from any wetland in another country where hunting is allowed are increased.
For the shrapnel found on the bird in three places, with chances of a cunning shot at it, we condemn the rifleman's act and vertically separate the legal and conscientious hunter from him.
In addition, we would like to ask "BirdLife Cyprus" to openly announce the name of the veterinarian who examined the flamingo so that we, as the Hunters' Party, can proceed with our own questions and clarifications.
Finally, in support of the hunting license provided by the legal hunter where duck hunting is allowed, there should be more permitted wetlands for hunters practicing this hunting.
Cyprus stands out again, perhaps from the only European countries where waterfowl hunting is allowed as in all of Europe but unfortunately there are no wetlands for the legal hunter to hunt.
The indifference of the competent bodies unfortunately led to the closure of most of our wetlands.
FamagustaNews