Cooling Marshes, Kent, 7th December 2014

Saturday 3 November 2012

Photoblog: CABS Camp Brescia, October 2012

Illegal poaching through trapping or shooting, although much improved, is rife in the foothills and Alps of the Brescia (Lombardy) region of Northern Italy. During the autumn hunting season hundreds of thousands of birds, many migrants, are killed in the area, shockingly a huge number by hunters with legal permits to do so. Although trapping through use of mist nets, snares and 'snap traps' is illegal, it still occurs across wide area. I thought I'd post a few photos from my trip to Italy last week with the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) for their annual bird protection 'camp'.

A Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) caught in an illegal mist net near Lake Iseo. Birds caught live may be caged and sold as lucrative hunters decoys which can fetch hundreds of euros. These birds (and many others) are kept in the dark for months and brought into the open the following season, upon being exposed to the daylight they sing as if it is spring and in doing so lure passing birds to their death. A cruel trick and the final insult. Song Thrush, a bird of conservation concern in the UK, is legally and widely hunted during autumn in Northern Italy when the population is bolstered by arrivals from N Europe. Other birds caught in nets are simply left to die slowly...
Female Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) recovered dead from a poachers net near the hillside village of Zone - one of the worst areas we visited. 
CABS volunteer freeing a Robin (Erithacus rubecula) from a mist net in the Val Trompia area. Robins are highly prized by poachers as they are often sold to restaurants where they appear as expensive, so-called 'delicacies'. The sale of birds in butchers and restaurants is now forbidden but that doesn't stop some.
Trained CABS staff assisting an illegally shot, mortally wounded Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla). Despite regular attempts by hunters to allow it, the shooting of finches is illegal in Lombardy thanks to dedicated work by CABS and others.
A set bow or archetti trap found on my first day near the town of Iseo. Much of our work during the week focused on identifying illegal archetti trapping sites. This brutal trap lures birds in by the sight of berries fixed to a notch on a stick by the poacher. As the bird lands on the small 'branch' with the loop of cord beneath (left side of photo above) it instantly triggers the snare, becoming trapped and pinned to the stick where it is left, in most cases, with broken legs for hours or even days until the trapper returns. During the course of the week this poacher was caught red handed by the Italian forest police, the birds he was killing were being served at his brother's restaurant nearby.
Archetti traps hidden in a tree waiting to be used.
A poacher's snap trap or trapoli in the Val Sabbia valley. This trap lures birds, mostly robins, in a with a live bait placed on a hook attached to a tightly coiled spring, the slightest disturbance instantly clamps the trap shut, breaking the birds neck.
This photo doesn't look like much, but taken from a busy road it shows a hunter's back garden capano - essentially a small, well disguised hunting 'arena'. These are legal with permits in Northern Italy. The hunter typically plants fruiting shrubs and trees in a circle around a central camouflaged hide, adding makeshift 'branches' and perches with space for decoy cages. With decoys or the fruit on offer he is then free to sit comfortably with his friends and wait to shoot the birds as they come. We saw hundreds of these.
A caged decoy Song Thrush near Lake Idro. This is legally allowed.
Although it was a challenging week, both physically and mentally, there were a few great moments too. Watching three Golden Eagles soaring over sun-baked alpine crags after a long day takes some beating!
CABS volunteers take a break to admire the view. Upper Val Trompia, 25/10/12

Thanks for reading, a write up to follow...

1 comment:

  1. Nice and very interesting article with the wonderful images explanation kept us on reading and thanks for sharing..!
    Regards, cabs in hyderabad

    ReplyDelete