A hunter shot in the direction of a speed boat with a family on board to kill two protected birds, according to a reader. The incident happened last Saturday, at around 5.25pm at San Blas Bay in Gozo. The Autumn hunting season opened yesterday.

“As we were leaving San Blas two gun shots were fired in our direction from a distance of 150 metres. The shots were fired from the shore where I spotted a young man wearing just shorts and holding a gun. He was crawling to hide himself better.”

The reader, who was accompanied by his five-year-old son, said some 10 to 15 “white birds” were flying away but two others were floating on the sea. The birds were later identified as Little Egrets.

“As I turned the boat towards the area where the hunter was I noticed the man with the gun running up the cliff where another man was waiting for him. The second man did not have a gun in his hands.”

The reader said at that point his boat developed an engine fault, probably because he cut the gas throttle abruptly. He dropped anchor and phoned the AFM and reported the incident.

Then he jumped into the sea and retrieved the two injured birds and took a picture of them. “They were still alive at the time and but they had gunshot wounds and they died within twenty minutes.”

The dead birds were later collected by police officers from the Victoria station. A report was lodged.

San Blas bay.

The reader pointed out that, apart from killing protected birds, the hunter had also put lives in danger. “I was very upset that we still have such ignorant reckless people around. He fired his gun to kill the birds but did not care that he could have injured people.”

The man said the hunter was apparently waiting for a passing boat to scare away the birds, which were sitting on some rocks, so that he could shoot at them.

“At least we did not get hurt but the incident certainly ruined our day.”

‘AFM did not respond to illegal hunting report’ - Birdlife

In the meantime, Birdlife Malta thanked the man who stopped to pick up the injured birds but claimed that the Gozo AFM section had not responded to the man’s report of illegal hunting. Birdlife Conservation and Policy Officer Christian Debono said this was becoming “a regular symptom whenever cases of illegal hunting are reported.”

Mr Debono said the hunter had been hiding behind some rocks, waiting for the birds to fly off so that he could shoot. “This man killed two birds during closed season. That is one illegality. The second is the fact that the slain birds are protected.” He remarked that this is only the start of the migratory season, and in the coming weeks and months many more birds will fly over Malta.

An illegal hunting site in Gozo.

The Birdlife officer also referred to the illegalities being carried out by hunters and trappers in Gozo, which were exposed in The Malta Independent on Sunday. Mr Debono said that no new trapping sites were permitted but enforcement is non-existent. Besides, Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) section is not present in Gozo. 

Hunters illegally take over Gozo’s ‘Wild West’