A 23-year-old hunter has been denied bail after being charged with shooting four flamingos.

Miguel Zammit was arrested earlier in the day over the shooting of the protected birds near Qawra. The case was first reported by Birdlife Malta, which said the incident had been witnessed by its volunteers.

Hunter Miguel Zammit was arraigned before Magistrate Elaine Mercieca in the afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

The court heard how police officers found Zammit at the scene with a firearm and ammunition. His lawyers requested bail, pointing out that Zammit had remained at the scene and would not tamper with the judicial process.

The prosecution objected, saying the accused could not have shot down the birds by mistake.

Bail was denied and Zammit was remanded in custody.

The police said earlier that they were informed at around 7.30am that in the Fra Ben area, shots had been fired at the protected birds.

On arrival, the police also found a vehicle belonging to the man who had allegedly shot at the flamingos.

Members of the Environmental Protection Unit, Rapid Intervention Unit and district police arrested the hunter.

The police also seized a firearm, ammunition and four dead flamingos.

Three of the birds were lifted out of the sea by members of the Armed Forces of Malta.

Following the incident, BirdLife Malta reiterated its call on Prime Minister Robert Abela and the Government to declare Qawra Point as a protected area and a no-hunting zone. 

“We have for the past years insisted on this with the relevant authorities and are aware that progress had been made recently, with a guardianship deed agreement also presented to us to take over the area, however this had to be refused until hunting is banned from the area,” the organization said.

In a statement, the Hunters and Trappers Federation said that people such as the hunter who is being accused of slaughtering four flamingos "have no place in a civilised society, certainly not among the FKNK community". The hunter involved in today's incident is not an FKNK member, the federation said.

The federation said it will continue to work "in favour of sustainable socio-cultural traditions", and warned its members that it will not tolerate anyone besmirching the federation's name.

For its part, another hunters' association, Kaccaturi San Ubertu, said that the hunter was one of its members for a year but had been dismissed from the association after a similar crime.

Both associations condemned the incident.