A serious attack by a gang of bird trappers and illegal hunters in Aradippou last Sunday, members of the organization Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) complain via the komitee.de page.
According to the complaint, "a gang of trappers and poachers blocked all access roads to the bird trapping sites, to carry out their criminal activity without disturbance, and even threw a stone at our vehicle, breaking the windshield, while we were trying to escape from the area. There were no injuries, but the incident could have been much worse."
In fact, the CEO of the non-governmental organization CABS, Alex Heyd, fires at the anti-poaching unit of the Cyprus Police, saying that "we do not understand why the unit is not active in the hotspots of illegal activities and does not help to reduce the sense of impunity that they exhibit daily these bird killers.'
The same publication states that "despite high fines imposed in 2017 for illegal trapping with nets, poachers continue to 'get away' with a fine of just €200 for illegally killing birds belonging to 14 protected species with guns, lime sticks or other traps . As a result of low fines and a lack of enforcement patrols, the killing of protected birds remains widespread in Famagusta and Larnaca provinces. The fact that we are on the front line, gathering evidence and catching anyone who commits wildlife crime, makes us a target of aggression from criminal gangs, who do not hesitate to use violence or send threats to our staff and volunteers."
CABS teams, the report concluded, will continue to protect the birds during their migration to their southern ranges throughout the autumn.