On 11 April, just a day after the opening of Malta’s socio-cultural traditional hunting season for turtle-dove and quail, a local journalist who transmits news coverage in electronic format at di-ve.com, headlined that on the first open day of the season Birdlife (Malta) reported that Maltese hunters had shot down a marsh harrier, a protected species.

This was recovered by a third party who in turn handed it over to Birdlife (Malta). The article was accompanied by a photograph of the shot bird that Birdlife (Malta) presumably had supplied to di-ve.com as reproduced above.

In the article, the executive director of Birdlife (Malta), termed Maltese hunters “criminals” who shouldn’t be allowed to roam the Maltese countryside at this time of year, which is the best time of the year locally for the rest of the Maltese population to enjoy the countryside.

But a local hunter immediately brought to the attention of di-ve.com’s editor the fact that the photograph had been copied from UK’s DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) WebSite at www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/wiis.htm, which showed a marsh harrier suspected to have been illegally poisoned.