Bird trapper fined €9,200 after being videoed using limesticks

Bird trapper has been fined €9,200 after the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (Cabs) filmed him setting up traps for songbirds in the Famagusta area and reported him to the authorities.

According to Cabs, the man was “one of the most persistent bird trappers on the island” and well-known to the organisation as well as to the authorities since 2012.

He was first fined in autumn 2020 after Cabs obtained footage showing him setting up limesticks for songbirds and turned it in to the police. However, because penalties in Cyprus for similar offences are lower in the autumn season, the fine amounted to just €200.

A post on Cabs’ Facebook page this weekend said that volunteers had kept the man’s trapping site under observation over the last few weeks and eventually caught him setting up 19 limesticks, with which he managed to catch five birds.

Two blackcap and a willow sparrow were already dead when volunteers intervened, but a lesser whitethroat and a great tit were saved and released.

“Karma has finally caught up with him,” Cabs’ Facebook post said.

“Because of the higher fines in spring, this time the offender has to pay €9,200.

“We sincerely hope that he has lost his desire to illegally trap and kill birds. Nevertheless, we will be watching his garden next autumn!”