cassowary or an ostrich into a holding enclosure without injury to the handler. This technique is favored when handling cassowaries due to their formidable claws and aggressive behavior. () Laws Most countries have laws prohibiting the use of traps for capturing birds. Professional bird trapping may be regulated by licenses and researchers requiring to trap bird will usually need to obtain permissions. Hunting to some extent may however be allowed and some birds may be exempted. Traps may thus be used under some circumstances such as in the control of birds considered as pests. Some international treaties aim to protect migratory species across national boundaries. Some organizations work to protect birds from trappers. Several organizations have emerged to identify and remove traps and help authorities. Among the volunteer organizations are Lega per l´Abolizione della Caccia (League for the Abolition of Hunting), Centro Soccorso Animali Modena (CSA) Modena (Fauna Rescue Centre Modena), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Italia), and LIPU (Lega Italiana Protezione Uccelli or Italian League for Bird Protection, Naples) One volunteer organization removed 150,000 illegal traps during a ten-year span. In Europe, the 1979 Birds Directive and its amendments seeks to protect wild birds and allows hunting only within certain limits. According to the Directive use of traps, bird lime (glue), nets, live decoys and poison is forbidden at all times and birds are protected during breeding and spring migration. Malta joined the European Union in 2004 and obtained certain exemptions from the protective laws that apply to the membership states regarding wild birds. Trapping of several types of finches was allowed for five years until 2009 when the derogation was phased out. Malta had about 4,700 licensed trappers in 2007 who, by exemption from European protective laws, continue to trap quail, turtle doves, golden plovers and song thrushes. Further, illegal trapping continues to be a problem in Malta. In North America the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and its amendments protect wild birds. Ecological impact Trapping can devastate local bird populations and also impact migrants at critical stopover sites. In Malta, three local species have been extirpated by trappers and hunters—the peregrine falcon, the barn owl and the jackdaw. Jonathan Franzen has called Malta "the most savagely bird-hostile place in Europe". Trapping also affects migratory birds at important stopover sites such as the Maltese islands. However, one book claims that peregrine falcons have again started to