Gun and stuffed animals seized
GUARDIA Civil environmental service (Seprona) officers have seized a firearm with a silencer and seven stuffed wild animals after inspections in Crevillente and Santa Pola.
Officers assisted by a police dog and three forest guards were carrying out checks in a protected natural area of Crevillente on February 12, and found the gun in one of the vehicles they stopped, explained a spokesman for the force.
It was a .22 calibre sport rifle with a detachable silencer and a box of ammunition.
Firearms for sports can only be carried and used at licensed shooting ranges and use of detachable silencers is prohibited except for authorised public servants.
Use of silencers in protected areas is considered a serious risk to wildlife precisely because it is more difficult to hear the shots and this makes it easier to get away with poaching.
The weapon, silencer and ammunition were handed over to the office of the inspectorate for weapons in Elche and the owner was isand sued with a proposed fine.
In the other case, the stuffed animals were found in a shelter for hunters during an inspection of a game reserve in a protected natural area of Santa Pola on January 17.
There were three partridges, a hare, a fox, a quail a genet.
The spokesman noted that not all species can be hunted in order to be stuffed, such as the genet, which is endangered and therefore protected, so can only be stuffed if it has died of natural or accidental causes, and only with previous authorisation from the regional environment department.
Moreover, taxidermy must be practised by authorised personnel, and all pieces must always be accompanied by documentation which proves they have been stuffed at a registered workshop and that they have been acquired legally.
The owner could not prove this so faces a fine and all seven stuffed animals were seized for analysis and evaluation in order to determine what should be done with them.