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Known under the names of Stayla or Queen in Morocco, the European goldfinch is appreciated for its pretty plumage and harmonious melodies that delight bird lovers throughout the Mediterranean region. But this popularity makes it target of choice for trafficking and smuggling networks, endangering its survival.
During the awareness day organized before the official opening of the 2024-2025 hunting season, the National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) announced that it had carried out, in coordination with the General Directorate of National Security, the Gendarmerie Royal and the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), several intensive surveillance operations.
Since the start of the hunting season and until December 30, 23 successful operations have been carried out to combat the illegal trafficking of goldfinches, Médias24 learns from ANEF. At the end of these interventions, 8,022 birds were seized and released into the wild.
These actions also allowed the seizure of a significant number ofequipment used for their illegal capture. THE eastern regionsnotably Oujda and Jerada, were at the heart of these operations, with notable results. Significant seizures were also made inother regions such as Rabat, Khemisset, Fez, Meknes, Souk El Arbaa and Larache.
The songbird most threatened by poaching
If other songbirds such as the Serin cini, the European Greenfinch or the Alder Siskin are also the subject of trade at the national level, the American goldfinch remains, neverthelessthe most affected species through illegal trade, ANEF explains.
Several techniques and means are used by poachers to capture the goldfinch in its natural environment, in particular the vertical installation of large fine mesh nets invisible to birds with pockets along the net where the bird falls when it hits the net; the use of bait net traps or trap cages; the use of industrial glue which constitutes a great danger for birds; using recorded calls to attract birds to glue or traps.
A goldfinch traffic map was compiled according to the number of operations and quantities of goldfinches seized since 2016. The Oriental region is the area where a large number of birds have been seized. This could be explained by the fact that the birds are intended for illegal trafficking through the eastern region where the species has become very rare, explains ANEF.
Smuggling to Algeria, Tunisia and Europe
“Indeed, small quantities of birds are collected in different cities of the Kingdom, particularly where the species is found in the natural state, notably in Larache, Ksar Kbir, Chaouen, Ouazzane, Kenitra, Meknès, Khémisset, Tiflet and subsequently transported by private or even sometimes public means of transport to the cities of the Oriental region, particularly to Oujda and Jerada”, underlines ANEF.
-“The species is also collected in different souks and shops where the species is displayed for sale for bird lovers in large cities, namely Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir, Kenitra and Fez.
“According to the information available, the quantities caught without authorization in the distribution areas of the species are collected by organized networks. They are transported by private and public means of transport to the eastern regions for export to Algeria and, through it, towards the Tunisia. A part is also transported to the northern regions for export to l’Europe“.
Conservation and anti-trafficking efforts are numerous
At each entrythe birds are systematically released in nature, specifies the National Agency for Water and Forests. A minutes is erected and a legal action is initiated against the alleged culprits, sometimes with the opening of a judicial investigationunderlines the latter.
Faced with the threats weighing on the goldfinch, ANEF has undertaken a certain number of measures aimed at protecting this species. These are mainly:
– the inclusion of the species on the list of protected species. It is included in category 4 of law 29.05 relating to the protection of species of flora and wild fauna and the control of their trade. Under the provisions of the said law, the capture, detention, sale, offering for sale of this species, without authorization, is prohibited. It also provides for fines for any offense ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 dirhams per birdin addition to the seizure of the means used for their capture and transport;
– the strengthening of surveillance and control, through the intensification of field control operations by ANEF teams and through the strengthening of coordination with the various control bodies, the police, the Royal Gendarmerie and the ‘Royal Army;
– the organization of seizure and control campaigns in urban areas, in collaboration with the police and local authorities.
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