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Michaela Muscat
The saying “like shooting a duck in a pond” is used to denote an easy task. But for members of the Civil Protection Department, deployed on dinghies to capture the wild ducks around Spinola Bay and Manoel Island, this mission proved to be no mean feat.
Assisting the authorities in rounding up wild fowl due to the avian flu scare, CPD members told this newspaper the ducks proved to be rather cunning for them as they attempted to snare them and whisk them away to Fort Delimara, where they will be caged to prevent the spread of the flu.
“It was awful trying to capture the ducks,” a frustrated source told MaltaToday. “As we were trying to concentrate our efforts to stealthily creep up on them from behind, they evaded us by ducking underwater and resurfacing a few metres away.”
The state veterinary department has been monitoring wild fowl, including ducks and geese “for any strange behaviour or deaths” for over a few months now. Chief veterinary officer Mirielle Vella confirmed that the CPD had encountered difficulties when attempting to round up the ducks. “We are dealing with one area at a time. One has to keep in mind the general welfare of the ducks, so there are certain ways and means we have to use to make sure that no harm befalls the ducks.”
Vella continued: “The CPD had to use dinghies because the ducks immediately waddled to the waters as soon as they realised that they were going to be captured.”
Organisations like BirdLife Malta have often insisted that the monitoring of waterfowl was imperative to prevent the spread of the bird flu. BirdLife president Joe Mangion explained that it was important to monitor all of the ducks and geese found across Malta in bays like Spinola as they easily could come into contact with wild birds migrating back from Africa.
mmuscat@mediatoday.com.mt
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