The total
shot protected birds collected since the start of the year is now 64 – a trend
which BirdLife says confirms that 2018 will be the worst year in the last six
for illegal hunting.
22
September 2018, 5:54pm
by Matthew Agius
by Matthew Agius
A number
of protected birds have been shot as they overflew the islands this
month; three in the past 24 hours, environmental NGO Birdlife says.
The total
of known shot protected birds seen by the government vet so far since the start
of the autumn hunting season on 1st September is now 20. This brings the total
of collected shot protected birds since the start of the year to 64 – a trend
which BirdLife says confirms that 2018 will be the worst in the last six years
for illegal hunting. “These 64 are just the tip of the iceberg as many other
shot birds would have not been retrieved and the number does not include birds
seen flying with injuries,” BirdLife said on Facebook.
This
total also does not include the latest three known casualties collected in the
past 24 hours which are being seen by the vet today – a dead Grey Heron
collected from the sea at Għadira and two Bee Eaters which were found in Dingli
and Mqabba.
Birdlife
says the Government vet had confirmed that the last three injured protected
birds collected yesterday and another one we received today had all been shot.
This
means that the total of known shot protected birds collected by BirdLife Malta
and the police since the start of this year's autumn hunting season has now
reached 24 - an average of more than one retrieved bird per day of the season
which started on 1st September.
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