Hunters, who number more than 40,000 in a Greek Cypriot population of about 750,000, are a powerful lobby in the country which holds presidential elections next year. The targets will be turtle doves, a declining species across Europe.

"It will be a case of targeting a threatened bird species at the most vulnerable stage of its life-cycle," said Martin Hellicar, the executive manager of Birdlife Cyprus, the local arm of the international conservationist group.

Turtle doves are a legitimate game species in the autumn, but not, say environmentalists, in spring when adults are migrating to breed.