An injured Osprey was found by residents of St Vincent de Paul on Saturday morning in the grounds of the residence in Luqa.

BirdLife Malta said that the bird was found injured with both wings broken as a result of shotgun injuries, as a visit to the vet later confirmed, it said. This is the third Osprey recovered since the start of the season.

The NGO highlighted that birds of prey like this Osprey rank high on taxidermy wanted lists. BirdLife Malta pointed out that “recent changes in law by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri allow such bird specimens to be transferred in between hunters’ bird collections.”

“This bird’s journey, possibly originating from northern Europe, has been cut short as a result,” it said.

BirdLife Malta stressed that “nothing exemplifies more the international impact that such policies have on European birds than in the second case, involving a shot Common Kestrel bearing a metal ring originating from Finland, which was rescued on Friday from Wardija.”

The NGO added that it is “awaiting updates from our Finnish Euring partners for further details on this bird, which was confirmed by the vets as suffering from multiple lead pellets in its body.”

These are just two of a number of illegal hunting casualties recovered by BirdLife Malta in the past weeks, it said.

Since the last update about the ongoing autumn hunting season by BirdLife Malta, it said that it has “also recovered a European Turtle-dove shot down after the season for Turtle-dove hunting closed, a Western Marsh-harrier, a European Honey-buzzard, another Common Kestrel, a Montagu’s Harrier and a Eurasian Thick-knee.”

The Osprey recovered this morning is the third one recovered by BirdLife Malta and Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) police this season, it said.

Screenshot and video by BirdLife Malta

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