BirdLife Malta said that it has intensified pressure for a call to suspend the autumn hunting season, "23 protected birds are now known to have been shot down since the opening of this year's autumn hunting season."
BirdLife said in a statement today that during the last it had been called again to assist in the retrieval of more protected birds which were shot during the autumn hunting season.
In Gozo, it was called to try to collect a shot Grey Heron with a broken wing, seen landing on a cliff ledge in Dwejra yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday too, in Delimara BirdLife Malta staff and Raptor Camp volunteers witnessed the illegal shooting of another protected bird. "After hearing a shot being fired towards the ground some metres away, a hunter was filmed picking up a shot Northern Wheatear and stashing it away."
"The police were called and were directed to the area where they found and retrieved the bird. The footage was passed to the police and the outcome of the investigation is awaited," said BirdLife.
It added that, "with the footage shot and released yesterday too by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) of the illegal shooting of yet another Honey Buzzard killed in Fawwara, this brings the total of protected birds shot down in one day to three and to 23 since the opening of this year's hunting season."
"With so many protected birds known to have been shot down up to yesterday, this is now one of the worst autumn hunting seasons in recent past years.
"It is shameful that the Government remains a coward and does not find the courage to take any action," said BirdLife Malta.
BirdLife Malta said that it "welcomes UN Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh's support and CABS latest statement indicating we have gone back to the years when enforcement was not effective, we repeat our plea to the Government to suspend the hunting season immediately."
Photographs fom BirdLife of shot Grey Heron on cliff ledge at Dwejra, on zoom and from cliff top