The target of the trappers is, mainly, the goldfinches, the faneta, the grebes, the crossbills, the mountain sparrows, the plovers, etc.
“Invisible” nets intended to trap wild songbirds were identified and destroyed in the previous days in Ano Korydallos and Mount Aigaleo by the Environmental Association of Municipalities of Athens Piraeus (PESYDAP) and the Aigaleo Forestry Authority.
The initial detection of the nets was done by the Civil Protection Team of PESYDAP, led by the president of the Association, Grigoris Gourdomichalis, while a team from the Aigaleo Forestry Office rushed to the spot.
During the ensuing investigations, the nets were dislodged and destroyed, after all the birds that had been trapped had been safely released.
As Mr. Gourdomichalis noted, both the type of nets (almost “invisible” to the eyes of birds and humans), as well as the area they occupied, show that it was a “professional” effort, which aimed to channel the captured birds to the illegal wildlife trade.
According to PESYDAP, the illegal trapping of wild songbirds for the purpose of their commercial exploitation has been a major blow to Greek nature for decades now.
The main target of the trappers are, mainly, the goldfinches, fanetas, florets, crossbills, mountain sparrows, plovers, etc.. Especially now in the spring when the birds are mating and are more mobile and careless of the dangers that threaten them.
Together with other agencies such as the forest department, the police and the hunting organizations’ game police, PESYDAP has carried out several raids on the Schistos bazaar, seizing and releasing hundreds of wild songbirds that had been funneled for sale there.
As Mr. Gourdomichalis emphasizes, “the experience so far shows that a complete as possible effort to limit the illegal trade in wild birds should also include the parallel awareness of the public that buys them, thus shaping the conditions of their demand”.
At the level of suppressing the phenomenon, also, it is not only necessary to prosecute the “bird catchers”, but also the merchants who traffic them, in shops and “markets” in Athens.
For the next period, however, the Civil Protection Team and the fire protection patrols of PESYDAP on Mount Aigaleo have received clear instructions to intensify their attention to nets and firebreaks in all areas of the mountain.
Any structure or means of entrapment will be destroyed on the spot, while if it is not possible to arrest the perpetrators on their own, a lawsuit will be filed against unknown persons in cooperation with the relevant forest offices of Piraeus and Aigaleo.
Source: Skai
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