Illegal hunting in Livorno
Newsletter, 19.06.2015
Today at 09:00 p.m., a second hearing takes place in Livorno/Tuscany, regarding the trial against an Italian hunter, charged with the shooting and killing of two Northern Bald Ibises in 2012. The European Commission asks for maximum attention regarding this trial.
The LIFE Nature Unit of the EC writes a letter addressed to the association Waldrappteam, responsible for the LIFE+ project `Reason for Hope´ for the reintroduction of the Northern Bald Ibis in Europe: “ Our unit was informed that the Italian court has started a trial against an Italian hunter who killed two Northern Bald Ibises. The Commission is deeply concerned that poaching in Italy seriously affects the objectives and results of the LIFE+ project.” Accordingly, the Commission asks for information about the consequences arising from these cases of poaching on this protected species and how Italy intends to ensure that the number of illegal shootings on Italian territory will be reduced.
The manager of the LIFE+ project, Johannes Fritz, says: "We await the results of the process with confidence and we expect an exemplary sentence for the killing of the birds. Northern Bald Ibises are very special birds, absolutely unique in their looks and it is not credible that they are mistaken with any other bird species hunted in Italy, let alone with pigeons that were apparently hunted by the offender. We ask the Italian hunting associations, with which we have a good and cooperative relationship, to concentrate their efforts to nullify the number of illegal shootings in the future. This applies especially for the province of Livorno, where in 2012 alone four Northern Bald Ibises were killed by poachers”. Concurrently with the criminal trial, the association Waldrappteam is preparing a civil lawsuit against the hunter, to request compensations for the damages arisen by the loss of the birds.
Partial success for the Waldrappteam was achieved during the first hearing on February 13: The defence of the hunter asked to close the case by paying a financial compensation. This request was rejected by the judge, because of the particular seriousness of the fact that the two killed animals belong to a critically endangered species, which is protected under international conventions.
Picture: Flight of Northern Bald Ibises above the Adriatic Sea. All birds are equipped with GPS trackers which enable the constant real-time monitoring of the positions of the birds.
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