Another five birds with shotgun injuries have been received by BirdLife Malta in the last 24-hours, including the Marsh Harrier (Baghdan Ahmar) seen above, which was recovered by ERA officers from Mellieha. BirdLife Malta said that one of the birds was found dead by members of the public.

In a statement, BirdLife Malta said that, “we are still at the start of October and so far in 2020 we have already retrieved more illegally shot protected birds than the last eight years.”

It added that, until this morning, 152 protected birds were retrieved after being shot by hunters. “This means that Malta is facing its worst year for illegal hunting since 2013.”

BirdLife Malta has released footage of the illegal hunting casualties retrieved between yesterday and today, together with a message from BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana directed to Prime Minister Robert Abela and his Cabinet of Ministers, and to the Police Commissioner in relation to the enforcement situation during the ongoing autumn hunting season.

Photograph by BirdLife Malta

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