A barn owl that formed part of the hunters' and conservationists' federation FKNK's reintroduction project-intended to restore this species to the wild-was recently targeted by illegal hunting.

The news was announced on Facebook by BirdLife Malta, which said the owl was found injured just a few metres from the reintroduction site at Buskett, "an area that is supposed to be a bird sanctuary where hunting is prohibited."

BirdLife Malta stated that on 18 November, a family with children contacted them after finding the owl with a broken right wing while out walking in the area. The organisation provided first aid and took the bird to veterinarians contracted by the Wild Bird Regulation Unit (WBRU).

BirdLife Malta added that although two phases of this project were funded by the WBRU's conservation fund and even received an award from the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE), no results were ever published about the project's success. "More than ten years after the FKNK project was launched, the Barn Owl remains extinct in Malta."

They said it is "shameful" that publicly funded projects continue to be undermined by repeated cases of illegal hunting. "If there is genuine will for such projects not to be mere greenwashing, the Federation itself should be the first to advocate for stricter enforcement and adequate penalties that serve as a real deterrent for similar cases."