[WATCH] Poachers shoot at four flamingos

A flock of Greater Flamingos were shot by at least one illegal hunter standing on the shoreline at Qawra in full view of people passing, as the flock flew overhead across Salina Bay this morning, according to BirdLife Malta.

Three are thought to have been killed, falling into the sea, while two others landed injured. A third injured flamingo was also seen flying very low around Mellieha Bay this morning.

Administrative Law Enforcement police officers arrived on scene earlier in the day to search for any poachers nearby. Monitors from Birdlife Malta, who arrived on the scene with ALE officers, said that poachers had shot at a total of four flamingos, three of which are believed to have been killed but dropped in the sea They have not been recovered yet.

The flock of around 40 flamingos was first spotted yesterday in the south heading north, following the coastline as far as St Paul's Bay, where the birds are believed to have roosted overnight near St Paul's Islands.  

This morning as the birds attempted to continue their migration they came under fire, with at least three of them seriously injured and three most probably killed. The remaining birds were seen flying north towards Gozo.

BirdLife and the ALE are trying to recover the injured birds for rehabilitation. While in Salina the BirdLife team observed a flock of seven Grey Herons, one of which had a visible gunshot injury.

Nick Barbara, BirdLife Malta conservation manager, said this was yet another example of how illegal hunting was widespread and not isolated cases as claimed by the authorities. "The arrival of rare birds in Malta, like these Greater Flamingos, should attract tourists; instead it attracts poachers with guns."

BirdLife alone has recovered 40 dead protected birds over the last four weeks and observed around 200 protected birds being shot at and flying with gunshot injuries. "These figures only scrape the surface of the true extent of illegal hunting in Malta," Barbara said. "The authorities do not publish the number of shot protected birds they receive and many more are never found as the evidence is destroyed by the poachers. It appears that nowhere in Malta is immune to illegal hunting. Only yesterday a BirdLife team recovered a shot Night Heron a few metres from the Prime Minister's residence," Barbara said.

The flamingo is a protected species, while national law allows for the hunting of 41 species from land and 13 species at sea. All other other species are protected by national law.

The hunting season is presently being monitored by volunteers from Birdlife Malta and recently, the German-based Committee Against Bird Slaughter.