News-Archive: Project of the Month April

Our bird protection camps on Cyprus are increasingly effective …
now is the time to keep up the pressure!

From the results of the last winter bird protection camp 2023/24, we can conclude that our years of trapping site monitoring during our bird protection camps, and the high pressure created by the filing of criminal charges, are having a measurably increasing effect on the big players in the bird slaughter industry, at least in spring and winter!
Last winter, the relatively weak autumn migration of Song Thrushes to the south coast of Cyprus and correspondingly lower wintering numbers certainly contributed to this. Tens of thousands of Song Thrushes on southward migration did not make the long flight to Cyprus and spent this year's mild winter on the islands of Greece and the Turkish coast.

Unfortunately, this instinctive, energy-saving behaviour had fatal consequences for thousands of song thrushes on the night of 18 to 19 January 2024 and the days that followed. This was triggered by a severe winter storm with heavy rainfall in the eastern Mediterranean region.

The storm brought tens of thousands of Song Thrushes from the Greek islands and the Turkish coastal region to Cyprus. This substantial influx triggered a high adrenaline rush among Cypriot bird poachers and hunters on the night of 19 January 2024. The result was hectic and massive thrush trapping and bird hunting activities.

The massive gunfire along the south coast of Cyprus on the morning of 19 January 2024 made the conservationists from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and our Foundation wonder if they were in the middle of a war zone.

In rapidly marshalled hunting parties, countless bird hunters shot at anything that came in front of their guns. Most of them were utterly exhausted Song Thrushes that had been swept to Cyprus by the storm. Seeing the large numbers of dead birds was a severe challenge to the morale of our conservationists. Nevertheless, they never thought for a moment about quitting or leaving for home!

On the contrary, the most immediate and urgent priority for our conservationists in the following days was putting a stop to this migratory bird massacre. In the next few days, with unusually good support from the police and state gamekeepers, they caught six large-scale, habitual bird poachers and twelve illegal hunters red-handed, and criminal charges were filed against all of them.

With the return of the Song Thrushes to their Central and Northern European breeding grounds in mid-February, calm returned to the bird slaughter front in Cyprus. In summary, but for the storm-related Song Thrush massacre, illegal bird-trapping and bird-hunting activities would have been significantly reduced in Cyprus this winter.

From mid-April onwards, up to ten bird conservationists will once again participate in the spring bird protection camp on Cyprus. Once again, we will keep up the pressure on criminal bird trappers and hunters by closely monitoring the illegal trapping facilities and bird hunting sites. 



Our bird conservationists will also focus on expanding and intensifying the search for newly created migratory bird trapping sites. After all, until late spring, their important mission will be to ensure safe passage for the tens of thousands of songbirds such as Eurasian Blackcaps, Common Nightingales, Golden Orioles and the 36 other migratory bird species that use one of the most dangerous migratory stopover locations in the Mediterranean region on the return journey to their Central and Northern European breeding grounds.

As almost everywhere, travelling costs to and from Cyprus, basic accommodation, fuel for our two cars and basic catering for our bird conservationists have become markedly more expensive. In addition, it is necessary to equip our bird conservationists with security technology for their day and night missions. It is more than ever essential to enhance their ability to document for the courts the unfortunate regular risks to life and limb posed by attacks by aggressive bird trappers and hunters.


We still need some 18,200 euros to operate the Cyprus spring bird protection camp and procure new safety equipment. Please help us with your donation of 20, 30 or even 50 euros.

Results of the 2023/24 Cyprus winter bird protection camps (8 weeks)

Illegal bird poaching
94 illegal bird trapping sites located (129 *)
33 illegal active bird trapping sites (10*)
36 illegal mist nets dismantled (4*)
15 electronic bird callers dismantled (1*)
7 criminal charges filed against illegal bird poachers (2*)

Illegal hunting activities
41 hunting sites with illegal activity located (49*)
20 electronic bird callers dismantled (12*)
15 criminal charges filed against illegal bird hunters (12*)

*) Figures for the previous winter 2022/23