Malta to hold referendum over spring bird hunting on Saturday

The Mediterranean country of Malta is going to hold a national referendum on Saturday on whether spring bird hunting should be prohibited.

The referendum is to decide the fate of the archipelago's controversial spring bird hunt, which kills over ten thousand migrating birds every year.

The Constitutional Court of Malta sided with the 11 conservation groups who organized the referendum, known as the Coalition for the Abolition of Spring Hunting - gathering 40,000 signatures from Maltese voters in January.

Opinion polls show that the majority of Maltese are against the spring hunt. However, for the referendum to be valid, over 50 percent of the electorate has to show up.

Joe Mangion, a former Birdlife president, said Malta was the only EU country where spring hunting was allowed.

"Spring is a time for bird migration and it is not justified to be killing them during this period especially since hunters had another five-month season in autumn during which to enjoy their hobby," Mangion said at the launch of a no-hunting campaign in January.

He stressed that the referendum was not intended to abolish the hunting hobby but spring was the birds' last chance before they reached their breeding ground.

The spring hunting in Malta has become increasingly controversial in recent years as conservation groups continue to decry the scale of the season, which can see over 10,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quail killed.

Moreover, illegal hunting continues to be a problem.

Located between continental Europe (267 km) and Africa (284 km), Malta is a stepping stone on a seasonal bird migration route between the two continents, in spring and autumn. Endit