Update 2 | Prime Minister closes spring hunting season after protected bird of prey is shot

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has ordered the immediate closure of the spring hunting season after a kestrel - a protected bird of prey - was shot by a hunter. The bird fell into the football pitch of St. Edward’s College in Cottenera while the students were on their lunch break.
Muscat is ending the season three days ahead of its official closure.
"Despite sharp decline in illegalities, today's hunting incident is inexcusable. I have decided to immediately close the season," the Prime Minister said.

Despite sharp decline in illegalities, today's hunting incident is inexcusable. I have decided to immediately close down the season -JM

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) April 27, 2015

The kestrel was shot twice and a teacher, Diana Triganza, said the boys, aged between seven and ten years, were “traumatized” at the incident and that some of them had started screaming as the bird fell into the pitch.
The bird was reportedly shot once and hit, and then shot at again.

Muscat, who supported a Yes vote during the 11 April spring hunting referendum, had warned that “flagrant abuses” would not be tolerated. In an official statement, the government said that inexcusable abuses will no longer be endured.

@JosephMuscat_JM closes spring season for hunting well done, no beating around!

— Saviour Balzan (@saviourbalzan) April 27, 2015

It also said that no information was passed on which might have led the authorities to the perpetrator. Muscat had warned hunters he was expected their full cooperation in bringing those practicing illegal hunting to justice.

Alternattiva Demokratika Chairperson Arnold Cassola welcomed the decision: "Finally, after one illegality after the one, the Prime Minister has  closed the season.  We were right. The Kathleen Grima image and the nice family on billboards were just a big bluff. It was and still is patently obvious that spring hunting makes no sense despite Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil's posturing."

But while the move was welcomed by many on social media, especially on Facebook were users congratulated Muscat for the move, less impressed was CEO of hunting federation FKNK, Lino Farrugia.

 “We never agreed with collective punishment: we disagreed with it in 2007; we disagreed with it during the closure of the last season and we disagree with it today,” Farrugia said when contacted for a comment.

Insisting that “collective punishment was not on”, Farrugia said FKNK was carrying out its own investigations into the case and added that “there was no proof as yet on who shot the bird or whether it was a licenced hunter”.

Reiterating that whoever shot the protected bird was “a criminal”, Farrugia also said that the FKNK will “see what steps it can take”. Asked to specify, the FKNK CEO reiterated that collective punishment was not on and that “it only happens in Malta”.

“This is not flagrant abuse … shooting at a bird which is not rare … It was a wrong act but why should I be blamed for it as well?” Farrugia said, adding that he hadn’t shot once this season because of the poor season. In fact, hunters had their hopes up for the coming two days after today’s change in weather.

The kestrel, with its pointed wings and long tail, is a bird of prey belonging to the falcon family, Falconidae. Administrative Law Enforcement officers were called in and took away the bird. Animal Welfare Department officials told the school that the bird stands a chance of survival.
The protected bird was shot just a day after the FKNK accused BirdLife activists of "breaching the law" for handling an injured bird.

BirdLife, on Thursday, said an illegally shot cuckoo suffered injuries to its wing, with its bone protruding through the feathers. Because of the extent of its injuries, the bird was euthanised. The FKNK however said BirdLife may have been breaking the law when it was in possession of the protected cuckoo. "The bird could have also been saved and rehabilitated," Farrugia said.

Soon after news broke of the shot bird, FKNK condemned the incident as a “criminal act” and said that they were carrying out their own investigations into it.

Farrugia appealed to the FKNK’s members and the general public, who may have any information that may lead to the offender’s identification, to contact the police or the FKNK themselves. 

St. Hubert’s Hunters (KSU) similarly condemned the incident and questioned why hunting should be permitting outside the perimeter of a school. “It is inconceivable, considering the exemplary behaviour of the absolute majority of hunters during the season, that few still persist with such criminal behavior,” KSU President Mark Mifsud Bonnici said. 

More protected birds shot – 63 illegal bird callers found

Yellow-legged gull discovered by a member of the general public close to Pembroke on Sunday morning.

Two protected birds with shotgun injuries were handed over to the police by volunteers from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) yesterday, as stated by the organisation. A team patrolling through the Mizieb woodland yesterday afternoon discovered a dead Cuckoo. The bird was hidden under a stone and is the fourth of its species found in the area since the opening of the spring hunting season. Officers from Administrative Law Enforcement seized the bird and took photos of the area where the corpse was found.

The organisation also received an injured Yellow-legged gull which was discovered by a member of the public close to Pembroke yesterday morning. The bird was found to have injuries typical to shotgun damage on its left wing. The gull was passed on to the Government veterinary department.

CABS has also informed the police about the locations of 63 illegal bird callers which have been installed by hunters in the countryside to lure birds to their hunting grounds. These electronic callers are predominantly used for Quail.

The lures were found mainly in the north of Malta as well as on Gozo. The police have informed CABS that “several” devices were found during night inspections and reassured them that they have since been dismantled accordingly.

According to article 8 of the European Birds Directive the use of bird callers is regarded as an illegal method employed for the mass killing of birds. Each unit is composed of a loudspeaker, a battery for power supply, a bird caller which imitates the courtship songs of the Quail and a timer which activates the pre-recorded bird calls in the night.