Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated Mar 20, 2009
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Ambelopoulia - A Sticky End
This winter I have gained much pleasure and entertainment from two bossy little birds in my garden. A pair of Robins: one skinny with spindly legs, and the other rotund and more aggressive. I have had scolding looks when there is no cheese, glorious singing when there is, and inquisitive company on cold mornings, accompanied by both stealthy, and brazen stealing! Not to mention robins posing for photographs so beautifully, then disappearing as I reach for the camera!
What I have missed this winter is the appearance of a pair of Blackcaps. They usually arrive in ice, frost or snow and make good use of the big peanut cake that is impregnated with insects. Several species have been scarce in spite of a hard winter which normally brings them flocking in.
So a message I received made me think deeply, and brought to mind my comments in my last article about people who stubbornly adhere to 'traditions' long after their need or usefulness has declined. I am a huge fan of tradition, but for me it has to sit comfortably in today's world, and do no harm.
Looking at our glorious feisty robins or the neat little blackcaps, I wondered how could anyone (even in dire need of food) contemplate killing them? Yet the message reminded me that this is still happening in spite of years of campaigning.
That is exactly what they do in Cyprus— kill
European robins and Blackcaps , destroying many other birds in the process. The birds are killed, and either pickled, boiled or fried and eaten whole (yes, whole!) as expensive 'delicacies' in the local restaurants. This practice has been illegal for thirty years, but still goes on.
This 'delicacy' is known as ambelopoulia, and is now sold 'under the counter' with the birds being prepared and stored elsewhere in case the restaurants get raided! In order to conceal them from disapproving eyes, they are often wrapped in vine leaves, and ordered by some other name which conceals their origins.
The practice apparently originated in the fifteenth or sixteenth century when
Ortolan Buntings used to stuff themselves full of ripe figs and were so bloated they were easy prey. Sadly the species is in decline. I wonder why?
Incidentally, the Ortolan Bunting is a favoured delicacy in France, dealt with in much the same way, except they are artificially fattened up for eating a bit like geese and duck are fed for pâté de foie gras. Strangely, it is against the law in France to trade in Ortolan Bunting, but not to eat them! For a culinary 'treat' try putting Ortolan Bunting in a search engine and look for a well known motoring celebrity.
Blackcaps and robins are the favoured birds of Cyprus diners but the methods of trapping and killing see over 100 species snared and killed. These include bee-eaters, flycatchers, wheatears, pipits, shrikes, owls, nightingales, my beloved robins and song thrushes too. Most are trapped in the south east of Cyprus where migrant birds in their millions stopover on their way from Europe to Africa. Some 90% of the migrating birds have protected status. Many species indigenous to Cyprus and already threatened are caught too, such as the Cyprus warbler, Cyprus scops owl, and the Cyprus pied wheatear.
Great efforts have been made for many years to cut off the demand, and punish the trappers, not only because of the cruelty and the loss of species, but because it does not show Cyprus in a very good light to the rest of the world and this lovely island needs its tourists.
The methods of trapping used are cruel in the extreme. Fine, black almost invisible mist nets are strung out between Acacia and other trees, often specially planted and maintained. Electronic bird calls are used to attract them, and their wings and feet become entangled. Many birds are caught which are not required, much like the 'by-catch' in the fishing industry, but according to local superstition they must be killed too or no more birds will be caught.
The second method is even more cruel.
Sticks dipped in sticky bird-lime are placed around the trap site and when the birds land on them they cannot free themselves. Often hanging upside down they have been known to chew their own legs off in their desperation to get free.
Whilst many Cypriots defend the trapping as a traditional way of topping up their meagre income, this is now a multi-million pound business, with nothing casual, or local about it. Stronger enforcement of the law, and a drop in supplies has even seen restaurants sourcing birds from Malta and Italy. I wonder how many birds have to disappear before the penny drops, as it has with much of the fishing industry?
Although the number of birds trapped has levelled out in the past few years, the autumn/winter of 2008 saw a 50% increase in trapping and over the past year more than 1.1 million songbirds were slaughtered, 776,000 birds last autumn alone.
1.1 million songbirds gone! A small number compared with the 10 million birds taken every year in the 1990s but still a dreadful tally. A single Blackcap sells for €4!
Those who attempt to police the trade take their lives in their hands, as they and their families are often threatened by the illegal hunters. The wardens attempting to eliminate the practice are hugely outnumbered. Many of the amateur or part time trappers have given up, but it is the criminal fraternity that now holds sway, and they are much harder to deal with, sending the trade underground as with much of the illegal wildlife trade. Consequently those who would wish to report the illegal acts are often afraid to do so.
Thankfully, since 2003 millions of birds have been saved, not least due to the efforts of Birdlife Cyprus, the RSPB (Birdlife in the UK) and British police on the two UK military bases on the island. However, the political will seems to be lacking in the face of opposition from the restaurant trade.
Birdlife Cyprus has monitored illegal trapping in Cyprus since 2002 and found that an increase of 50% in trapping in 2008 was the highest for five years.
Campaigning and the education of children continues but it is clear that more needs to be done. Even pressure from the outside world, before the still divided Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, did not stop the trapping. Though most local people profess to hate the slaughter, very many still happily consume the results!
I accept that other nationalities have a different cuisine, different traditions and different sensibilities but when it endangers the very existence of birds or animals that are part of our planet's delicately balanced ecosystem, then perhaps it is time to call a halt.
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