The Federation for Hunting & Conservation – Malta (FKNK) this evening said that it denied the statement [1] made by BirdLife Malta earlier this week that it had photographed two men, that FKNK said were “allegedly” hunting inside the Ghadira Nature Reserve protected buffer zone.
FKNK pointed out that at the top left of the photo, it shows a large slab of concrete, “which is a concrete platform from World War II and it indicates the exact location of the hunters.”
“The published photograph shows that the two men were not in the buffer zone. They were actually in the proximity of Popeye Village,” the FKNK stated. “At that spot there are no maps, no signs, no sign-posts, no indications of a nature reserve and no border fencing.”
FKNK continued, “it is to be noted that, while hunting there, one can easily find oneself close to, or perhaps even inside, the forbidden zone without being aware.”
“Therefore, we consider it very unfair to cry foul, alert the ALE police and publish photographs in the newspapers of people, giving the impression that these two particular hunters are guilty of violating a nature reserve.
“This is just another example of BirdLife Malta resorting to manipulative tactics and hyping up the situation in the media, purely in order to reach their declared objective of banning spring hunting at all costs.,” the FKNK concluded.
Photographs by BirdLife Malta.