BirdLife Malta has written to Prime Minister Robert Abela demanding a delay in the opening of the hunting season until 15 October.

BirdLife Malta sent the open letter following "the massacre of 40 Black Kites (Astun Iswed)", which are legally protected birds.

These were shot over the 22nd and the 23rd of this month, the NGO said.

On the first day hunters started shooting at the birds late that same evening and the Environment Protection Unit within the Police Force were unable to attend to the report as the EPU functions till 9pm, thus hunters escaped with their catches, BirdLife said.

The second shooting happened the following day, with the only difference being that this time the hunters were Gozitan, as a flock of 28 were seen coming in over Gozo in the evening, circling Ramla Bay valley, it said.

When the NGO went to report this to the Gozo Police, they said that they had no resources to send on site, thus this allowed the hunters to easily hunt down these birds.

In its letter, the organisation said that with regards to protecting birds of prey, by law there is consensus with the FKNK, meaning that it should not be hunted.

"The Prime Minister should immediately condemn what has happened. The least he could do is to suspend the opening of the hunting season till after 15th October to safeguard the migration of protected species like raptors and herons. This needs to be supported by law enforcement units present in the countryside to monitor those who are still willing to break the law."

In his comments BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana said that the NGO has taken upon itself to write the mentioned open letter to the PM to "remind him" about his legal obligations to fight illegal hunting.

"If Robert Abela cannot reassure that illegal hunting will be fought against with strict enforcement and better laws, then Malta should not have hunting seasons," he continued.

"The people of Malta, whose majority are against hunting, deserve better and the Prime Minister should show he has not lost control over this lobby with immediate effect," he concluded.