It hasn't taken that long for yet another Osprey (Arpa in Maltese) to fall victim to the ongoing hunting season of illegalities, BirdLife said in a statement Friday.
On Thursday afternoon an Osprey with visibly dangling legs and colour rings was observed over Buskett. The bird, after being shot somewhere in the vicinity, attempted to settle on one of the trees near Buskett. Unable to use its legs, the bird tried hard holding onto a branch until it eventually tumbled down the tree to the ground. Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) police officers on site reached the bird with the help of birdwatchers and took the bird immediately to the veterinary clinic.
The diagnosis was clear. Lead pellets had shattered both legs beyond any chance of recovery. The bird is a juvenile one that started its life some months ago in Latvia, on its first journey to Africa for winter, BirdLife said.
The bird was in fact confirmed to have been ringed in July this year as a nestling in the nest close to the village of Blīdene (Saldus Municipality), Latvia.
BirdLife Malta said that the information was provided to them following initial contact made by the BirdLife Malta Ringing Scheme with its Latvian counterpart thanks to the details emanating from metal ring ET8905 and colour ring (red with white inscription) EN3 that the bird was fitted with.
“Its journey has however been cut short as a direct result of the state of impunity that hunting is in. Years back a 3pm curfew protected these birds from being hunted down as they arrive to Malta to rest for the night. Yet currently most of the hunting that is witnessed in the afternoon is simply on such protected species,” BirdLife Malta said.
The NGO noted that this is the second illegally shot Osprey recovered in less than a week following the Osprey recovered by BirdLife Malta staff at Għadira Nature Reserve after the bird landed injured on one of the islands within the reserve, succumbing to its injuries on Sunday.
“Most of these birds originate from Baltic and Scandinavian countries where intense conservation efforts are expended to help this species thrive. Current government policies in Malta are wasting away such European efforts simply to appease a hunting lobby to kill more of such species,” the NGO said.
In a short statement reacting to the news, hunting lobby FKNK said that anybody who kills a protected bird is not welcome with the federation.
“These acts cause major damage to the major efforts that the FKNK is making so that we enjoy our traditional hunting, especially that of turtle doves,” the hunting lobby said.
It thanked the “thousands” of hunters who are responsible and behave correctly.
Photo: Mark Sultana