'One of the worst' spring hunting seasons comes to an end

A total of 17 illegally shot protected birds were recovered by BirdLife this season, half of them protected turtle doves, as the spring hunting season came to an end on Saturday.
The number of shot birds collected by the public, police and BirdLife?clearly indicate this has been one of the worst spring hunting seasons in past years, the NGO said.?
"The 17 protected birds confirmed shot by the veterinary are the tip of the iceberg this season, which was supposedly open only for quail, should put to shame all those that defended it in the first place," BLM said.
To make things worse, the change in dates chosen by the government '" against scientific data and against the Environment and Resources Authority's advice - was nothing more than a smokescreen for hunters to target this vulnerable species.
"It is clear that this year there were thousands of this species shot over our islands, in particular during the past days when shooting at this protected bird spiralled out of control."

The government should feel cheated if it really believed it could trust the hunters that they would not shoot on anything but quail during this season.
"Changing the dates of the season to coincide with...

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