There is still no sign of the two flamingos that disappeared from the Għadira Nature Reserve last Saturday, despite claims by a hunting group that the popular birds were later spotted flying over Gozo. Furthermore, no official sighting reports were filed with the police, Birdlife Conservation Manager Nicholas Barbara told The Malta Independent yesterday.

Following the disappearance of the flamingos, signs of forced entry into the reserve were found.

On Sunday, the St Hubert's Hunters' Association said it had received information from two of its members that two flamingos were sighted near Ċirkewwa and later off the North Coast of Gozo. "In view of the ongoing police investigations we call on the police authorities to publish the findings of their investigation at their earliest, in order to establish whether the sighted flamingos where the ones in question," the association said.

The main hunting group, the FKNK, tried to cast doubts on the Birdlife Malta report and said the "alleged incidents" were intended solely to confuse public opinion and conveniently sustain the anti-spring hunting campaigning efforts.

However, when contacted yesterday, Birdlife Malta Conservation Manager Nicholas Barbara said the birds have not returned to Għadira and the organisation did not receive any sighting reports. He also said that the ALE and the Gozo Police confirmed to him that no sighting reports had been filed.

Mr Barbara noted that people usually call both Birdlife or the police whenever large birds, such as flamingos, are sighted. He said it was strange that no one else, apart from the two hunters, had seen them.

When asked by this paper, Mr Barbara also said it was unlikely that the birds had simply moved on to another country. "Birds tend to look for shelter in stormy weather. The night of their disappearance was stormy and windy and it would make no sense for the flamingos to simply fly away over water."

Birdlife Malta did not come to any conclusions, he said, but the fact that there were signs of forced entry on the same night cannot be ignored. The signs included trampled vegetation, foot marks leading up to raised fence and a 3-metre wooden plank which could have been used to gain access.

The Birdlife officer said the flamingos have stayed at the Għadira Nature Reserve ever since being rescued in September, never wandering far away. "There was a time when a flock of flamingos flew over on their migration route but these two birds did not join them, they stayed in Għadira."

The two juvenile flamingos landed in Malta one week apart in September 2014, one at Paradise Bay and the other at Birzebbuga. "The pair had become stable residents at Għadira Nature reserve, feeding in the lagoon and slowly gaining their transformation from grey juveniles to pink adults. Inseparable since their arrival, the two flamingos were a mainstay attraction to reserve visitors, often seen feeding and roosting together, as well as giving a spectacle as they flew around the reserve," Birdlife said last week.

Birdlife is still appealing to members of the public for any information on the flamingos' whereabouts or about the Għadira incident to contact the police on 119 or BirdLife Malta on 2134-7644.

In the meantime, the police have failed to answer questions sent by this paper on Wednesday.