Birds Slaughtered in Cyprus
A conservation group said Tuesday, that over 1.1 million songbirds prized as culinary delicacies were illegally slaughtered by trappers in Cyprus in the past year.
Cyprus lies on a key migratory route and bird trapping has been common there for years. Trappers use either fine mists, nets or sticks dipped in sticky lime, while using recorded birdsongs as a lure.
"The figure is an unacceptable toll which ever way you look at it," said Martin Hellicar, executive manager for Birdlife Cyprus.
According to the group, many of the birds are served up as expensive delicacies in local restaurants, even though trapping and consumption is strictly banned.
Hellicar said, the overall figure in trappings appeared unchanged for 2008 compared to 2007, there was a 50 percent spike in trappings during the winter of 2008 compared to the same season a year earlier.
A report of the situation has been submitted to a wildlife committee of the Council of Europe, the Cypriot government and the European Commission. The report was complied by Birdlife Cyprus and Britain’s Royal Society of the Protection of Birds.
Close to 90 percent of the migratory birds that fly from Europe to warmer climates over Cyprus are protected, including threatened species.
The "ampelopoulia" birds are served in restaurants for up to five euros apiece. They are normally fried, wrapped in vine leaves to conceal from other possibly disapproving patrons and consumed whole.
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