Wildlife official says handful of repeat offenders treat fines as a cost of doing business, as parliamentary committee also probes complaints against anti-poaching activists
Illegal bird poaching in Cyprus may be generating more than €10m a year, the head of the Game and Fauna Service, Pantelis Hatzigerou, told the House environment committee, in evidence that pointed to a small core of professional offenders driving much of the trade.
Hatzigerou said between five and ten well-known, repeat offenders appeared to be operating poaching as a business, factoring the fines they incur into their operating costs rather than being deterred by them.
The committee also revisited, for a second time, complaints concerning the activities of certain activists and organisations working against poaching, and opened a discussion on strengthening the anti-poaching squad and on whether existing penalties were adequate.
Complaints against activists
The committee chair, Elam MP Linos Papayiannis, cited cases in which he said police had declined to accept complaints from licensed hunters or property owners against activists. Fellow MP Michalis Katsounotos called for specific data so the cases could be investigated and properly answered.
Elam MP Linos Hatzigeorgiou raised testimony alleging trespass, harassment and surveillance by activists, and asked whether it was true, as a police representative had previously suggested, that all complaints against activists originated from poachers themselves. Katsounotos said he did not have the relevant figures to hand.
Alma MP Litsa Drousiotou asked for clarification on whether there was specific activist conduct not currently covered by existing legislation, and how many complaints had in fact been filed against activists.
Seven complaints in a year
Akel MP Nikos Kettiros pointed to a pattern of repeat poaching offences, citing the case of one individual reported seven times in a single year for trapping birds, who paid a €13,500 fine and was reported again just a week later. He also referred to complaints filed by the Game Service against members of the forestry department, alleging they had exploited their position and access to the countryside.
Direct Democracy MP Yiannis Laouris said existing penalties were insufficient to deter poaching and called for concrete proposals to tackle the problem.
