The Game and Fauna Service has raised serious concerns over a “recurring phenomenon” of state employees engaging in illegal hunting, following the arrest of two Forestry Department workers in the Paphos district.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, 21 December, during a targeted anti-poaching operation in the Timi and Kouklia areas. Game wardens placed the region under surveillance after reports of suspicious activity and gunfire. At approximately 4:30 am, a vehicle was observed moving through agricultural land in Timi. When the driver ignored signals to stop, a pursuit ensued, concluding with the vehicle being intercepted at 4:50 am.
Inside the vehicle were three men from Paphos, two of whom are hourly-paid employees of the Forestry Department. Both individuals were already known to authorities for similar environmental offences. While two shotguns were seized on the spot, wardens suspected the group had hidden their kills to avoid detection during transit. A subsequent search at daybreak uncovered two freshly killed hares camouflaged and hidden in trees, alongside evidence of extensive damage to local crops.
The Game and Fauna Service issued a blunt warning following the arrests, alleging that certain Forestry Department staff are systematically exploiting their positions. The Service claims these employees use their access to remote observatories and restricted-access forest zones—areas where other enforcement agencies have limited reach—to facilitate illegal hunting.
This latest case follows a string of reports involving the deliberate flushing of game from prohibited zones. The Service noted that poachers have been using hunting dogs to drive hares out of protected areas into the path of waiting hunters. Investigations into the three suspects are ongoing, with the Game and Fauna Service calling for more stringent oversight of state personnel stationed in ecologically sensitive outposts.
Read more: