Since the opening of the hunting season on September 1st, the illegal killing of protected species has continued unabated, as over the last four days Maltese birdwatchers have recorded 186 incidences of illegal hunting.

BirdLife office has also been receiving shot protected birds over the last few weeks, many of which were received before the hunting season officially opened. With three Night Herons, one Grey Heron and a Collared Dove delivered to the organisation's office by members of the public or the police over the last three days, the numbers of shot protected birds reported to the BirdLife office alone has reached nine over the last two weeks.

"We currently have fewer than twenty local birdwatchers in the countryside who are witnessing and reporting illegal hunting in a handful of locations." said BirdLife Malta's Conservation Manager, Dr. Andre Raine. "As the numbers of birdwatchers increase during the Raptor Camp that will start in ten days time, the number of illegal activities we will record is likely to increase drastically. Therefore the actual scale of wild life crimes that we are recording at present is only the tip of the iceberg and is without any doubt much worse than last year." continued Dr. Raine.

In the last two days, Maltese birdwatchers in the countryside recorded numerous illegal hunting incidences including more than twenty shots being fired by at least three hunters on Marsh Harriers flying over in Dwejra and another two hunters firing more than one hundred shots at Barn Swallows in Mtahleb. BirdLife volunteers have also witnessed Marsh Harriers and Montagu's Harriers being shot at in the Ta' Virtu area, European Bee-eaters being shot and killed near Bingemma Chapel and Golden Orioles and European Bee-eaters being killed at Clapham Junction.

In one instance an Osprey (1) was photographed flying low over the Buskett area and out towards Girgenti where it came under fire from at least three different hunters. The injured Osprey was photographed while flying back over Buskett with a broken leg and blood on its chest by a birdwatcher and photographer Chris Cachia-Zammit.

Mr. Cachia-Zammit, who witnessed the incident, said, "I saw the bird flying low past me and being shot at over and over again. When I next photographed the bird it was badly injured and losing height. I do not think that it will survive with such extensive injuries".

"Despite the flagrant and widespread illegal hunting, it remains very difficult for people to report illegal hunting incidents to the police, particularly during early morning and late afternoon," continued Dr Raine. "On Monday, I observed two hunters shooting within the Salina Bird Sanctuary at 5:30 in the afternoon. At the same time, Qawra Police Station failed to respond to our reports regarding the incident. If hunters feel they can blatantly hunt in broad daylight within a Bird Sanctuary in a residential area, then one can not claim that there is any serious law enforcement to stop illegal hunting at present" concluded Dr. Raine

With a significant increase in illegal hunting this year compared to last, BirdLife Malta demanded that immediate action be taken by the government to deal with the situation.

Note 1) The Osprey is protected by law and given an European IUCN status of Rare, meaning in all of Europe there are less than 10,000 pairs. This species benefits from several specific conservation efforts in many European countries.