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This year’s spring hunting season was riddled with illegalities that warrant immediate scrutiny by the European Commission, BirdLife Malta said on Monday.
BirdLife Malta receiving non-stop reports of illegal hunting
One of the latest victims to be photographed is an Osprey with evident blood stains seen along the northwest coast of Malta
19 April 2021, 5:25pm
by Nicole Meilak
Illegal hunting casualties are being encountered on a daily basis, according to BirdLife Malta.
The NGO said that they received non-stop calls on Sunday reporting illegal hunting, with Radio and TV personality Trudy Kerr reaching out to BirdLife Malta after finding a Lesser Kestrel in the countryside.
Lesser Kestrel found in Mtarfa
This was collected by police who took the bird to the vets confirming it had suffered shotgun injuries.
Newsbook
Photo by Edward Bonavia
BirdLife Malta’s National Raptor Coordinator
Each spring, millions of European raptors that have over-wintered in Africa set out from that continent for breeding areas in Europe to breed and raise young.
Most leave Africa via the Strait of Gibraltar at the western end of the Mediterranean and via the Middle East over the outskirts of the coastal resort city of Eilat, in southernmost Israel. Others however migrate via the central Mediterranean via the Sicilian Channel between Cap Bon in Northern Tunisia and the Strait of Messina in Sicily. Although the Maltese Islands do not fall exactly on this central Mediterranean raptor migration flyway, when weather conditions are right, large numbers of raptors can be observed over Malta.