Thirteen more protected birds were illegally shot in the past week, BirdLife Malta has said.
On the 24th of September, BirdLife Malta said that 139 shot protected birds were retrieved in the first nine months of 2020. In a statement published today, the NGO said that this number has increased to 152 protected birds.
"We are still at the start of October and so far in 2020, BirdLife Malta has already retrieved more illegally shot protected birds than the last eight years. Until this morning, 152 protected birds were retrieved after being shot by hunters. This means that Malta is facing its worst year for illegal hunting since 2013. In the last 24 hours, we received another five birds with shotgun injuries, one of them found dead by members of the public."
BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana has issued a video message to Prime Minister Robert Abela, stating that this was the worst year for illegally shot protected birds in Malta.
He said that since 2015 there has been a trend of such illegalities. He said that the cause of the "rampant and increasing illegalities is the fault of decisions taken by the government and the Prime Minister," stating that the laws originally designed to protect birds have been weakened, "creating loopholes for hunters."
He urged the government to take enforcement seriously.