So Tom Southgate , anyone who doesn't submit to your way of thinking is an alien,eh. Seems like the EU-Malta honeymoon is over and it's no longer a case of " All together now" but more and more becoming a case of US and THEM !!! And you really want to know more about Cowboys and where there's loss of human life ? It's where a 12yr old boy goes to play football in a park and they return him home to his mum in a box.

Robert Sultana, Naxxar, Malta

Malta's birdKillers' (hunters') motto is if it 'Flies it Dies' is real and alive. The excuse to shoot doves and quails in spring is a ticket to kill anything that flies.

Bird killing goes on in Malta and Ghawdex all year round. Hunting laws are hardly enforced and there are about 22 police who are dedicated to stop these 16,000 licensed environmental criminals during the months of spring and autumn. The rest of the year is free for all to kill and trap all the birds that roam free on the Maltese islands.

David Camilleri, Qala, Ghawdex, Malta

By attacking a whole nation for the actions of a few you only show your own intense and deeply ingrained racial prejudices.
Malta is doing what must be done to prevent illegal hunting even if in the past more could have been done.
In fact proof of this is the fact that spring season has been closed, so please all you with passion and time on your hands go and harrass the Canadians for slaughtering hundreds of thousands of baby seals every year or the Japanese for the slaughter of whales and dolphins or the Brazilians for the destruction of massive areas of the Amazon rain forest or the British for the near total wipe out of the hen harrier by it's gentry because it feeds on game birds....The list is endless so give us a break and let us sort our house out in peace.

James Zammit Gauci, Sliema, Malta

The birds and all animals have the right to live! Stop the hunt of birds immediatly!!!

Sylvie Guibert

Sylvie Guibert, Binningen, Switzerland

These Maltese cowboys don't know the meaning of hunting - they simply blast anything and everything out of the sky. To suggest that their actions is being 'at one with nature' demonstrates their total ignorance and stupidly.

Moreover, the rest of Europe is not taken in with the claptrap about tradition, if you'd asked a slave trader about his activities, no doubt he would used the same argument!

The bottom line is that the Maltese so-called hunters are a now well and truly in the firing line. The law-abiding citizens of Europe are well on course to slowly but surely crush the unacceptable activities of these selfish aliens.

Be warned though, given their tactics to date, it wouldn't surprise me if we don't see some loss of human life before their illegal activities are eliminated.

Tom Southgate, Worcester, UK

Hunting in Malta is a tradition (centuries old). We do not need any financial support from anyone [Jane Richmond]. Malta is a much wealthier country than the US [see Jane's report online times]. The average Maltese citizen has 2 or even 3 cars one or 2 houses etc. The percentage of high class cars in Malta is the highest in the world [and they are not owned by any bank]. The tradition in the US is to keep an arm. I don't think that this tradition and constitutional right will ever be changed. Imagine what the NRA would do. Do you think that presidents in the US get elected if they have against them the NRA. At least in Malta arms are used to kill birds [i dont agree] but in the US, every second a person is killed because of that paragraph in your constitution. Besides this any hunter can tell you how many birds and annimals are killed illegaly in the US. So please look at your own backyard before throwing any stones.

George, Egham, United Kingdom

Let me start by saying that I do not hunt nor will I unless I have to. But these people will by tradition or whatever until they are made not to. In South America for example many people have cut trees down and killed parrots as a way of life until they were offered money or whatever to protect those nests. Sometimes you do what you have to until someone offers you a better way. If they are hunting for sport then they have far more money than the average Maltese citizen. If they are hunting for food then we need to offer them an alternative instead of condemning them.

Jane, Richmond, VA

The RSPB has the cheek of accusing us Maltese of being the "the villains of Europe when it comes to bird protection".

In Britain the persecution of birds of prey is common knowledge. A look at wildlife crime in the UK on the DEFRA website is enough to make any person sick. The discovery of 29 swans buried in a pit in Bedfordshire and other similar atrocities cannot be denied by the RSPB. Yet for some reason Malta is being labeled as the villain.

British hunters also account for " the lives of many tens of thousands of birds" and amongst them there are also those that break the law yet the British are not considered as villains.

The true villains are those who in support of their Maltese partners, under their purported guise of bird protection ignore the fact that illegal hunting is rampant in their own country and point fingers at others.

Can anyone in his right frame of mind honestly consider hunting in a Malta's huntable area of 70sq. miles as a threat to any species?

mark mifsud bonnici, san pawl tat targa, Malta

It amazes me how people like Greg, Annette and Ana are very quick to point their fingers at others. Have they never heard that charity begins at home !

Robert Sultana, Naxxar, Malta

At the end of the day it's all down to money - the rarer the bird the more it's worth stuffed and displayed - which is what it's all about. Swallows, finches, sparrows etc are all just used as target practice so they don't miss 'big money' birds when they fly over.
Please don't visit Malta for a holiday, if tourism suffers they might listen then.

Greg, York, UK

Annette your comments are outrageous. I’m not in favour of hunting, but to insult a whole nation because a small percentage of people hunt illegally is ridiculous. May I remind you that hunting takes place in almost ever country including Scotland. Ana from Brazil why don’t we call for a travel ban to your country until slavery is abolished in all the sugar cane farms.

Mike Grech, Tunbridge Wells, UK

I am absolutely amazed at some of the exaggerated, sensationalist and misinformed comments in this thread. First of all, let's not confuse legal hunting and poaching. Second of all, Malta is a tiny island 17 miles by 9. We are NOT on any main Mediterranean migratory flyway (the closest one is 150km away!) Thirdly, all this fuss is about the hunting of 2 species of prolific, non-endangered game birds in Spring- turtle dove and quail - both of which are listed as beling of "Least Concern" by birding organizations themselves.
For the uninformed, we have limited countryside, few open spaces, no water sources and little natural cover. There are NO resident game birds and never will be. We depend on the Spring migration as the Autumn one is poor to non-existent, and our Spring take is well within the parameters for derogation from the Birds Directive. And Annette, I resent you generalist and insulting comments. Ever had a look at what goes on in YOUR country?? Shame on YOU.

Andrew Gatt, Siggiewi, Malta

As usual money ruins everything, the rarer the bird the higher the price on it's head - to be stuffed and displayed. Small common birds are used merely as target practice so the 'high dollar' species are not missed.
Hunting! Tradition! - rubbish it's big business .

Greg, York, UK

It is not a hunt that takes place in Malta every year but a bloody massacre and of course must not be allowed.

It does not help that prior to Malta joining the EU the 'Hunter Killers' were misled not once but twice by the then Prime Minister and now the President of Malta and supported by the EU Commision by their silence, into believing that a permanent 'opt out ' was part and parcel of the legal agreement making Malta a permanent member of the EU.

Sandy Bartoli, valletta, malta

It's high time some of these "traditions" face reality and become extinct themselves.

Traditions are all very well but I wouldn't want the dubious distinction of having shot the last tiger or song bird. But then, my own brain is somewhat bigger than that of a songbird and I am able to go beyond a limited island mentality.

Victor D., Athens, Greece

Being an avid hunter for the majority of my life I cannot and will not condone any hunter shooting randomly. I was raised by my Grandfather to only shoot what you intend on eating and to never shoot unless you have clearly identified your intended target. If you uncertain what species you might be shooting DO NOT pull the trigger under any circumstances. One shot, one kill or stop hunting because you have no business possessing a gun.

Rocky, Wilmington, United States

Irrespective of nationality, human barbarity -and ignorance knows no bounds.
However, the Maltese must have incredibly small brains and huge egos to kill birds tinier than the size of their grey matter.
What are they going to do with all the small birds?? eat them??
I couldn't think of anything more selfish and stupid but there you go, that's the maltese hunting lobby for you.
Obviously in Malta they must live in a backward society that believes it's actions are separate from the rest of the world. Whilst many countries work to protect birds, endangered, those in decline, migratory miracles etc Malta is doing it's utmost to destroy the work of the other countries.
Such a pity such ignorance and neandethals still exist in this world.
Malta is not on my list of 'to go' places. Unfortunately for many millions of hard working migratory birds it is!

Annette, Edinburgh,

Joseph Paulk,:"One can't be "at one with Nature" whilst destroying it."

Tell that to a tiger.

We are hunter-gatherers, according to the anthropologists. The Maltese are living according to human nature, while the rest of us are sitting in front of computers wasting our lives away.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

Very simple , why dont you just call for a ban on
travel to Malta ! Am sure that if they see their
tourism biz going down the drains , they will
make sure the shooting stops !
Easy and neat !

Ana , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I think it is interesting that an opt out is now being taken before the European court to determine its legality.

I wonder if the UK's opt outs from the treaty will be the subject of a future court battle to determine there legality

William Thompson, London, England

If they are looking for a thrill, why don,t they split into groups and hunt each other, I,m sure it would be much more exciting

david, Helsinki, Finland

So Bob would rather these birds be hunted to extinction so that he and the other hunters have no more birds to shoot. Very sensible I say! Makes a mockery of your statement "We don't care what you, the EU or anyone else for that matter says, thinks or does"
You will kill your sport anyway!

Sam, Poole, Dorset

At least here in Malta we do not kill unborn babies in the name of choice!

David Scicluna, Malta,

Malta and the Maltese don't care what you, the EU or anyone else for that matter, says or thinks or does

Bob Fleming, Birkirkara, Malta

One can't be "at one with Nature" whilst destroying it.

Joseph Paulk, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Killing birds for 'fun' in the name of tradition is repugnant. Cultural attachment is the first refuge of a scoundrel 'hunter'. The EU must act to enforce its laws or risks looking like a toothless tiger when faced down by a 'minnow' member.

Mike, Pasadena, California, USA

To hunt and kill thousands of birds for the thrill makes these people ,low , primitive and barbaric. All they want to do is destroy beautiful birds who do no harm ,i know who i'd rather see the back of .No wonder the worlds wild life is being decimated when people with no conscience ,compassion or empathy for other creatures ignore the rest of humanity .

Jeamn Bennington, Prestatyn, Denbighshire