The Federation for Hunting and Conservation - Malta (FKNK) announced the release of 14 fledged barn owls from their breeding project in Buskett Gardens on Friday.

This is another important step for the Project that FKNK has been coordinating and managing since 2017 next to the ‘Razzett tal-Bagħal’ 16th century Knights of Malta Farmhouse within Buskett Gardens Natura 2000 Sanctuary, which farm is also administered by the FKNK since 2014.

The last introduction into the wild released over 14 subjects that were bred, raised and fledged in captivity on the Project’s premises, the FKNK said in its statement.

It is also envisaged that in the coming days a barn owl that had originally been released in 2022 and rehabilitated recently by the FKNK, will once more be introduced into the wild.  That barn owl had been shot in an illegal hunting incident at the end of 2023.

“The year 2024 will be an important year for this project, with a greater number of owls introduced into the wild, as well as with the help of technological monitoring, more information about the behaviour and movement of these species will come to light” the FKNK said.

The Federation said that this is a unique conservation project of its kind in the Maltese islands, which shows how the FKNK is pioneering the restoration of biodiversity in the Maltese islands.