Conservationists say Cyprus police are lax in stopping gangs that poach songbirds

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A conservation group in Cyprus says police have been lax in cracking down on criminal gangs that illegally trap songbirds to supply restaurants. A spokesperson for the conservation group BirdLife Cyprus says that even though the poarching has declined overall, gangs with ties to the island nation’s criminal underworld continue to make “serious money by trapping on an industrial scale.” He says there are up to 15 major trapping sites that use fine mesh suspended between two poles to catch the birds. Songbirds are considered a delicacy by some people, and a trapper can get as much as $159 for a dozen of them.