The Game and Fauna Service has arrested five people in Paphos. Two of the arrested are employees from the Forestry Department. Authorities say they found a group involved in illegal hunting. This happened early Sunday morning, December 21st.
The police started an investigation because of many reports of illegal shooting. Game wardens saw a car acting strangely at 4:30 am. The driver did not stop when asked. Police stopped the car and arrested the three people inside. They found two dead hares hidden in trees.
Evidence also showed damage to local crops. This suggests hunting dogs may have been used. The fact that two arrested people work for the Forestry Department is worrying. Officials want to know if they used their jobs to hunt illegally.
This is not the first time this has happened. The Game and Fauna Service is worried about state employees hunting illegally. It seems they used their positions of trust for personal gain. Their access to protected areas makes this problem very serious.
This situation could hurt wildlife protection efforts. It also makes people lose trust in officials. The Game and Fauna Service wants better checks on government workers in important natural areas. Investigations continue to find the whole poaching group.