One flamingo was shot while another disappeared when a flock of three flew out of the reserve at Ghadira, BirdLife said in a statement. A few minutes later only two returned with one clearly displaying a gunshot injury to its neck.

In a year to be labelled as the worst year for the illegal hunting of protected birds in the past six years, this incident just proves the sad reality that illegal hunting in Malta and Gozo is rampant, the NGO said.

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stated that it is disheartening to know that people who are being given the privilege to go out in the countryside with loaded shotguns for their enjoyment can yet be disrespectful towards society. We are aware that many hunters would deplore this incident and also the many illegal hunting going on, yet it is time for the hunting lobby to get rid of these people once and for all.

BirdLife Malta will continue working with all stakeholders including the Police, the Government and the hunting lobby itself to reach this aim, whilst calling on the Government to set up a Wildlife Crime Unit to seriously focus solely on wildlife crime.