A “rather rare” Mediterranean subspecies of Peregrine Falcon (also known as the Maltese Falcon) was recovered on Monday by BirdLife Malta, “after it had been shot and injured” at Gharb, Gozo.

The NGO explained that, a family holidaying on the Gozitan island discovered the bird, and called BirdLife Malta to carry out the rescue.

BirdLife Malta in a statement, said that the Peregrine Falcon, once a more common breeding species along our coastal cliffs, went extinct in the 80s as a result of indiscriminate hunting.

It added that the species as made a slow recovery in past years with a few breeding birds establishing nesting pairs in some remote areas of our coastline. “At the end of the breeding season, such juvenile birds would be still mastering the skill to hunt other birds on the wing.”

BirdLife stated that “this particular bird was unfortunate to fall victim to a hunter who was supposedly out hunting rabbits at this time of the year.”

It explained that, in 2018 the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU), “which ironically now falls under the Gozo Ministry, changed the laws of rabbit hunting purposely aimed to allow hunters to roam everywhere across Malta and Gozo.”

Prior to this change in legislation, rabbit hunting was only allowed on private land with the owner’s permission, “but now hunters can roam with a loaded shotgun wherever they want,” stated BLM.

It argued that, “hunters are using this smokescreen to go out hunting for birds during their breeding season and during the early migration and this was designed to practically extend the hunting season into the summer months too.”

According to BLM, “since the opening of the “rabbit hunting season” on 1st June we have received nine illegally shot protected birds raising the total of illegal hunting casualties this year to 113. This means that despite the fact we’re still in August, we are already on the same levels of 2018 which was a record year, with 114 known illegally shot protected birds.”

Nicholas Barbara, BirdLife Malta’s Head of Conservation, commented, “it is sad to see such a majestic bird which is part of our natural heritage, being cut short of its life as a direct result of legislative and policy changes introduced to appease the hunting lobby.”

He went on to say that “coastal cliffs should not be hunting grounds for rabbit, and this species is protected at the highest levels in both Maltese and European laws.”

Barbara concluded by saying, “we even have Natura 2000 sites designated to allow these falcons to make a comeback, yet such hunting concessions continue to undermine their conservation value.”

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stated, “While BirdLife Malta is gearing up for a positive nationwide campaign to encourage people to enjoy, care and protect birds during the autumn migration, this awful incident starts it off negatively.”

He stressed that, “we need the people of Malta and Gozo to show this Government that they care about nature and birds and want our natural heritage to be protected and not abused with the blessing of governments who were always spineless towards those that break nature laws and bend over backwards to appease only the hunting lobby as if the rest of society does not exist.”

BirdLife Malta concluded by callings on the public to follow the upcoming campaign #onthemove for more information on how to enjoy, care and protect birds on migration.

Photo and video by BirdLife Malta

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