BirdLife Cyprus will be undertaking over the following month a winter anti-trapping survey with the help of volunteers, checking various locations for trapping activity. Ιt is still early to have an overall picture of illegal bird trapping for this winter, however last winter 2014-15 we detected a large number of mist nets in situ, 48 mist nets in total after checking 90 locations. You may read the BirdLife Cyprus trapping reports here.

Over the last few years winter trapping has increased dramatically, based on the field data gathered by BirdLife Cyprus during the winter monitoring survey. The main target species for the trappers is the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), but unfortunately, many other wintering bird species fall victim to these non-selective and illegal methods, including the Robin (Erithacus rubecula) which is a common winter visitor.  

If you witness bird trapping please inform the competent authorities (Cyprus Game and Fauna Service – 99445697, Cyprus Police Anti-Poaching Unit – 1414 or SBA Police Anti-Poaching Unit – 1443) or if you prefer, you can inform BirdLife Cyprus. It is only through the collective action of many that we will be able to put an end to this illegal activity.