BirdLife Malta said that on Sunday, at Hal Farrug, Malta a hunter was filmed killing a Common Kestrel, a protected species. The footage shows the kestrel being held under the hunter’s foot until it takes its last breath.

The organisation said that what the hunter did not know was that a BirdLife Malta Raptor Camp team was operating in the area.

Thanks to their intervention, the incident was brought to the attention of the Environmental Protection Units. BirdLife Malta said that its officers apprehended the hunter and, following a thorough search, recovered the dead kestrel.

The organisation asked ”how can such incidents keep happening if killing a Common Kestrel can result in a €5,000 fine and a lifetime hunting licence ban? Is such a penalty not enough or insignificant when hunters deliberately kill protected species, believing they can go unseen?”

BirdLife Malta insisted that ”protecting Malta’s wildlife requires stronger enforcement and stronger deterrents.”

Photo and video: BirdLife Malta

Permalink: Protected bird “deliberately killed” and the cruelty caught on camera is difficult to watch – BLM