BirdLife is obviously all out against hunters, but it should be careful with its statements. The one I read (TMID, 31 August) gave BirdLife away. The organisation is obviously pulling out all stops against the hunters, and the government should be careful of BirdLife’s motives.

In the first paragraph of the story I refer to, BirdLife said that “on the eve of the opening of the hunting season” it has started to receive illegally shot birds. And to illustrate its point graphically, it released a picture of the shot night heron in question.

But towards the end of the story it becomes obvious that the night heron had been shot long ago. So long in fact that a Maltese photographer from the US had taken a photograph of the bird when he “recently” was on holiday here. May we please know when the picture was taken? And how long BirdLife had had the shot bird in its keeping?

“Recently” is not “on the eve of the opening of the hunting season”. BirdLife seems to be very economical with the truth. For BirdLife, apparently, the end justifies the means. The hunters may be right in arguing that BirdLife is leading the government by the nose.

C. GALEA

San Gwann