IF IT flies, it dies. That seems to be the motto for hunters on the Mediterranean island of Malta, currently serving as a staging post for millions of migratory birds (see “This bird has flown: Unravelling the mysteries of bird migration“). Every spring, these travellers seek rest and recuperation in the island’s fields after epic journeys across the Sahara, only for many to be shot down and stuffed for display.
Shooting in spring is banned throughout the European Union. Everywhere except Malta that is, where hunters are permitted to shoot a few thousand turtle doves and common quails. This year it was limited to quails alone, because the turtle dove is deemed vulnerable to extinction. But the reality is that hunters shoot and capture many other species too.
Disregard for the ban isn’t limited to Malta. BirdLife International estimates that 25 million birds are unlawfully killed or captured around the Mediterranean every year. Four countries are responsible for 8 million of those: Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. But the slaughter is most intensive in Malta, where some 7200 birds are killed per square kilometre every year.
In April 2012, photographer Kieran Dodds joined volunteers in Malta as they tracked migrating birds and their would-be killers. When the birdwatchers retrieve birds shot illegally, they take them to a local vet – who insists on anonymity for fear of reprisals – to confirm cause of death for legal prosecutions.
It was at a veterinary practice in Valletta that Dodds captured these images of slain migrants: (above) a golden oriole, (and in descending order below) a bee-eater, a common swift and a hoopoe. “The vet’s table was so clean and clinical, I thought it would give the photos the feeling of a still life,” he says.
Is there any light at the end of the barrel? Dodds isn’t filled with confidence. “Hunting is such an intrinsic part of Maltese life, and they don’t take kindly to outsiders telling them to stop,” he says. “The thing is, these birds are not theirs to shoot – they’re passing through, they don’t belong to anyone.”
This article appeared in print under the headline “The art of death”
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