BirdLife Malta has said a flock of Short-toed Eagles visited Malta over the weekend, however, it added that, “most of them are believed to have been shot dead.”

In a statement, BirdLife said that around 15 rare and highly-protected Short-toed Eagles (Ajkla Bajda) were spotted on Saturday evening coming in and settling in the outskirts of Siggiewi and Rabat for the night.

BirdLife Malta said that some of its members witnessed one of the Short-toed Eagles being shot down at Girgenti. “ALE police who were called to the area did not find anything.”

In the meantime, BirdLife said that the other birds scattered in the vicinity trying to find a place to roost “amid continuous shooting and intense hunting which was going on at that time.”

The following morning at 5am, BirdLife Malta volunteers and staff stationed themselves in the area to monitor the birds leaving the roosts. However, it said that only one bird was seen leaving Buskett at around 6:30am.

In spite of the fact that the morning watch organised by BirdLife Malta continued, “there was no other trace of the other birds anywhere. Most of them are believed to have been shot dead,” it said.

The eNGO explained that “it is not common for eagles to cross the sea during migrations and therefore our islands serve them as a respite if they happen to do so.”

It added that, “unfortunately, it has now become common that these magnificent birds are met with shotguns aimed at them.”

BirdLife Malta reiterated its call to the Government to set up a Wildlife Crime Unit at the earliest, “and also to make sure that it is equipped with the right tools to hinder any hunter that thinks he is above the law.”

Photo: Short-toed Eagle from a 2016 visit by Aron Tanti and BLM video edit with footage of the only Short-toed Eagle from a flock of around 15 which was witnessed leaving the roost yesterday (Footage by Nimrod Mifsud and Martin Austad, editing by Nathaniel Attard)

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