Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V. Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)

Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e. V.
Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)

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Illegal bird hunting in Italy

Waxwing illegal shot and seized from a hunter in Brescia
Waxwing illegal shot and seized from a hunter in Brescia

In hardly any other EU country is the line between licensed hunters and criminal poachers as blurred as it is in Italy. Almost three-quarters of all poachers convicted have a hunting licence. 

In addition to the use of illegal nets and traps, the shooting of protected songbirds is particularly widespread. A whole range of species are frequently targeted: On the one hand, there are finches such as goldfinches, siskins, hawfinches as well as brambling and chaffinches, which were huntable before the new hunting law came into force in 1992. Many hunters still regard these species as wild game and continue to shoot them in the name of "tradition". They are also often kept illegally as living decoys.

In addition to finches, robins, dunnocks, pied flycatchers, waxwing, reed bunting and wagtails are widespread victims of poaching. The shot songbirds are destined for the kitchen.