This afternoon, BirdLife Malta said that it is preparing to set an overnight guard to watch two Eurasian Spoonbills, Platalea leucorodia, shot by illegal hunters after arriving in the south of Malta yesterday afternoon.

BLM said that the two injured birds were part of a larger mixed flock including 25 flamingos, but this morning they were seen flying with noticeable injuries and have since been separated from the rest of the flock.“Yesterday’s stormy weather brought with it other migrating birds, including flocks of cranes and Marsh Harriers flying north from Africa.” BirdLife added, “but their arrival in Malta was met by the all too familiar sound of gunfire as Malta’s illegal hunters shot at the birds from Delimara in the south up to the Dwejra Lines and Salina in the north.”

BLM pointed out that “at the same moment these protected birds were being shot, Malta’s advisory committee on wild bird conservation (and hunting), Ornis, voted in favour of opening yet another spring hunting season next month.”

BirdLife Malta’s Executive Director, Steve Micklewright, slammed the decision and the political bias of the committee’s three Government representatives, all of whom voted in favour of opening a spring hunting season.

He said, “the Ornis committe is supposed to be politically independent and make impartial and evidence-based recommendations to government, but it’s clear that this function has been compromised by the government’s appointment of three committee members who unanimously and without fail cast their votes based on what is politically expedient.”

Mr Micklewright said that the three votes of the Government appointees formed a block that effectively negated the votes of the other members of the committee.

BLM said that the vote on whether to recommend opening a spring hunting season this year came after the committee were informed of the European Commission’s decision to launch an “EU pilot” in response to complaints about Malta’s abuse of EU directives by opening spring hunting seasons.

BirdLife said that it “also presented the committee with overwhelming evidence of unchecked abuse by hunters during successive spring hunting seasons and misreporting and inaccuracy of the data used to justify opening them.”

“We are now taking the matter a step further,” said Mr Micklewright, “and will be raising our concerns with the European Commission as well as writing to the Prime Minister. This situation cannot be allowed to continue with the conservation of threatened species at stake and Malta’s adherence to EU wildlife directives in question, not to mention 45,000 Maltese voters demanding a referendum on the issue.”

BLM said that dates for the expected spring hunting season have not yet been announced and at present the hunting season is closed. “Anyone observing hunting at this time is urged to record and report it to the police and to BirdLife Malta.”

“This is the only way to fight back against the killing of wildlife by these so-called hunters. Almost everyone these days has a camera on their phone. If you witness illegal hunting, you can do something about it by recording it and calling the police,” Mr Micklewright said.

BLM said that the numbers to call to report illegal hunting (or trapping): Administrative Law Enforcement: 22942161 / 2 / 3, District Police: 21224001, BirdLife Malta: 21347644 / 5 / 6

Anyone making a police report about illegal hunting should record the time and details of the report, as well as the badge number of the officer the report is made to, BLM concluded.

Photos – Two injured spoonbills shot in the last 24 hours trying to rest and the flock of spoonbills seen from the coast today: Photos by Mark Sultana

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