Bird protection services in Flanders sounded the alarm last week, as several protected birds had been found shot or poisoned.
Kris Peeters has been meeting representatives of bird protection services, environmentalists and huntsmen.
Hunters' groups have promised to inform their members about the problem.
Bird flu
In the mean time, a new case of bird flu has been discovered in Hungary. Three dead swans tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Hungary is the fifth country in the European Union to be confronted with avian flu, following cases in Greece, Germany, Austria and Italy.
The disease, which in some cases can prove fatal for humans as well, has as yet not reached Belgium. Several dead ducks found in a water reservoir near Lebbeke (East Flanders) tested negative for the virus. Yesterday, the Belgian government announced that as from March poultry will have to be kept indoors again as a precautionary measure.
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