Sadly, it hasn’t taken that long for yet another Osprey to fall victim to the ongoing hunting season of illegalities. BirdLife Malta have said that on Thursday afternoon an Osprey with visibly dangling legs and colour rings was observed over Buskett.

The bird, after being shot somewhere in the vicinity, attempted to settle on one of the trees near Buskett. However, unable to use its legs, the bird tried hard holding onto a branch until it eventually tumbled down the tree to the ground, said BirdLife.

Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) police officers on site reached the bird with the help of birdwatchers and took the bird immediately to the veterinary clinic.

BirdLife stated that “the diagnosis was clear. Lead pellets had shattered both legs beyond any chance of recovery. The bird is a juvenile one that started its life some months ago in Latvia, on its first journey to Africa for winter.”The bird was in fact confirmed to have been ringed in July this year as a nestling in the nest close to the village of Blidene (Saldus Municipality), Latvia.

The information was provided to us following initial contact made by the BirdLife Malta Ringing Scheme with its Latvian counterpart thanks to the details emanating from metal ring ET8905 and colour ring (red with white inscription) EN3 that the bird was fitted with.

BirdLife added that “its journey has however been cut short as a direct result of the state of impunity that hunting is in.”It pointed out that “years back a 3pm curfew protected these birds from being hunted down as they arrive to Malta to rest for the night. Yet currently most of the hunting that is witnessed in the afternoon is simply on such protected species.”

This is the second illegally shot Osprey recovered in less than a week following the Osprey recovered by our staff at Ghadira Nature Reserve after the bird landed injured on one of the islands within the reserve, succumbing to its injuries on Sunday.

Most of these birds originate from Baltic and Scandinavian countries where intense conservation efforts are expended to help this species thrive.

BirdLife Malta insisted that “current government policies in Malta are wasting away such European efforts simply to appease a hunting lobby to kill more of such species.”

Photos: from top – The Osprey is a highly-protected species (Photo by Mark Sultana); The shot Osprey after being retrieved by EPU police (Photo by Steve Zammit Lupi); and The shot Osprey was ringed in Latvia in the nest on 4th July 2023

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