On 10 August BirdLife Malta said that it recovered a rare Mediterranean subspecies of Peregrine Falcon (also known as the Maltese Falcon) which was shot and injured at Għarb, Gozo. The bird (Bies in Maltese) was found by a family holidaying in Gozo who called upon the NGO to rescue the bird.

"The Peregrine Falcon, once a more common breeding species along our coastal cliffs, went extinct in the 80s as a result of indiscriminate hunting. It has made a slow recovery in past years with a few breeding birds establishing nesting pairs in some remote areas of our coastline. At the end of the breeding season, such juvenile birds would still be mastering the skill to hunt other birds on the wing. This particular bird was unfortunate to fall victim to a hunter who was supposedly out hunting rabbits at this time of the year," BirdLife Malta said in a statement.

In 2018 the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU), "which ironically now falls under the Gozo Ministry, changed the laws of rabbit hunting purposely aimed to allow hunters to roam everywhere across Malta and Gozo. Prior to this change in legislation, rabbit hunting was only allowed on private land with the owner's permission but now hunters can roam with a loaded shotgun wherever they want. Hunters are using this smokescreen to go out hunting for birds during their breeding season and during the early migration and this was designed to practically extend the hunting season into the summer months too. Since the opening of the rabbit hunting season on 1st June we have received nine illegally shot protected birds raising the total of illegal hunting casualties this year to 113. This means that despite the fact we're still in August, we are already on the same levels of 2018 which was a record year, with 114 known illegally shot protected birds," the BirdLife Malta statement read.

"It is sad to see such a majestic bird which is part of our natural heritage, being cut short of its life as a direct result of legislative and policy changes introduced to appease the hunting lobby. Coastal cliffs should not be hunting grounds for rabbit, and this species is protected at the highest levels in both Maltese and European laws. We even have Natura 2000 sites designated to allow these falcons to make a comeback, yet such hunting concessions continue to undermine their conservation value," commented Nicholas Barbara, BirdLife Malta's Head of Conservation.

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stated: "While BirdLife Malta is gearing up for a positive nationwide campaign to encourage people to enjoy, care and protect birds during the autumn migration, this awful incident starts it off negatively. We need the people of Malta and Gozo to show this Government that they care about nature and birds and want our natural heritage to be protected and not abused with the blessing of governments who were always spineless towards those that break nature laws and bend over backwards to appease only the hunting lobby as if the rest of society does not exist."

BirdLife Malta calls on the public to follow the upcoming campaign #onthemove for more information on how to enjoy, care and protect birds on migration.