We have just heard the news of theyet another act of poaching consumed to the detriment of a specimen of protected wildlife. Once again it seems, but we would like to know more and better, that the cause was a shotgun. Looking forward to delving into the news and having greater necropsy findings on the part of the authorities, however, we are disconcerted and indignant. It is not possible that a few days after the illegal killing of an Egyptian vulture we should lament the loss of a rare Bonelli's eagle, the victim of a reckless and apparently unreasonable act.
But a reason must be found and we cannot think that this umpteenth offense is the result of chance. The hunt on the day of the shooting was therefore closed it could not have been a hunter's "mistake", also because it is a game that is impossible to mistake for a huntable species. We are therefore faced with a deliberate act of poaching, most likely dictated by interest. On the collector's market, a specimen of raptor, especially if rare, it can be worth a large sum. It is therefore easy to think that it could be precisely this, even if the poacher was unable to retrieve his prey either at the sight of the radio collar or because disturbed he preferred to leave it there. WWF calls for a task force against poaching. Good. We agree too.
Indeed, as honest hunters and respectful of the rules we offer maximum collaboration and we ask to be involved. But it must be a serious, targeted thing, not a facade operation that is resolved by checking the same hunter in good standing three times in the morning without affecting where the crimes are perpetrated. The position of Federcaccia, who sits at the national anti-poaching table wanted by the Ministry, has always been this: focus on conservation emergencies. The country does not have unlimited funds and often fails even to ensure public safety in the cities, it is impossible to think that it has funds and forces to control the whole territory and protect from Bonelli's finch to the eagle.
At this moment we need to concentrate resources for avoid major risks. Closing the hunting activity would be useless because poachers - and this last case demonstrates it - have no calendar or clock. And in many cases not even a hunting license. And if they were the only ones going around the countryside it would be even easier for them. That Sicily is a place of illegal actions by egg collectors and specimens of live and dead birds of prey has been established for many years. The fight against poaching must therefore be done in those places and areas where the presence of the state must be more incisive. Only in this way will we finally be able to annihilate a plague that harms us for acts that we have not carried out and that disgust us.