UK Hunt Sab In Ambush By Greek Shooters

“We were ambushed near the Keri peninsula, by the side of the road. We’d been spotted leaving the mountain. There were around fifteen guys in masks and balaclavas. They were immediately aggressive, grabbing phones, cameras, and backpacks. One of the team had his nose broken, another escaped by rolling off a cliff edge to the road below while being pelted with rocks. After they’d stolen our stuff, they drove off, threatening us not to return if we valued our lives” – Emma, wildlife protection volunteer.

The attack took place on the afternoon of 16th April. Emma was working in Zakynthos, a Greek island, alongside a team of internationals organised by the Committee against Bird Slaughter (CABS), a German direct-action wildlife organisation.

CABS’ work takes them across Europe and the Mediterranean, where they set up bird protection and encourage locals and local authorities to help enforce wildlife protection laws. The EU, in particular, has a wide range of unenforced conservation legislation, meaning there’s plenty of scope for citizen action.

In the case of Zakynthos, the main target for hunters is the turtle dove, a protected species whose numbers have plummeted by up to 90% in the last thirty years and is now considered by conservation groups to be vulnerable to extinction. The birds migrate across the island in the spring months. The Keri peninsula is a particular hotspot for the slaughter, with five temporary “hunting villages” and hundreds of shooters.

Turtle doves gunned down for sport. Images © CABS

CABS has been working on the island for the past three years, filling a gap left by the authorities. The HSA spoke to Andrea Rutgliano, team leader for CABS:

“With the bird protection camps we try to act as a catalyst for change, bringing in locals and the police in the struggle to stop illegal shooting. Here, the government had tried to take action in previous years but hunters succeeded through intimidation in stopping game wardens from even disembarking at the port”

“Nobody has challenged these hunters [on the Keri peninsula] before. We had a car smashed up last year but we won’t be deterred by these kind of attacks, we were out on the mountain again yesterday and today and will be every day for the rest of the shooting season”

You can follow CABS on Facebook here and donate via PayPal here