Poacher kills flamingo at Qalet Marku as autumn shooting season gets underway

A 31-year-old Mosta man was arrested on Sunday and is expected to be charged with killing a flamingo, a protected species.

The killing took place at Qalet Marku, near Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, on Saturday 11 November. The poacher was witnessed by observers as he left the scene of the crime in a car.

The police tracked down his car in Mosta, where a search of the residences in the area led to the poacher’s arrest.

Malta’s problem of illegal hunting continues, with the hunting lobby FKNK having to issue public statements telling its members they are not allowed to shoot domestic or racing pigeons.

In October, BirdLife Malta said that a number of GPS-tracked and colour-ringed highly-protected birds of prey tracked to study their migration, had disappeared as they arrived in Malta. A Czech Black Kite, a rehabilitated Honey-buzzard and a colour-ringed Lesser Spotted Eagle were amongst the studied birds that vanished over Malta, as illegal hunting on land as well as at sea continues to take its toll on protected species.

Other species targeted over the past month as the autumn hunting season progressed, included a Short-toed Snake-Eagle shot down at sea, Black and White Storks and other eagle species that are all highly targeted for taxidermy.

“All this is happening as enforcement resources are struggling to keep up with reports, especially at sea where police patrols are absent,” BirdLife said.

“With the hunting season at sea now also open since 1st October, an FKNK proposal in front of an ORNIS Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow proposes that the 3km distance allowing hunters to kill birds at sea is shortened to 1km, bringing hunters closer to the shore.”

The FKNK was reacting to complaints from racing pigeon owners, and warned members that their membership would be suspended, together with their hunting licence, if found shooting domestic pigeons. “The FKNK is encouraging the respect towards the integrity of the passion of each pigeon breeder and the unity of the members of the two federations against anyone who abuses in any way. The common commitment of hunters towards the practice of responsible hunting should extend to all aspects in society in general.”