Shot White Stork was part of Italian reintroduction scheme

BirdLife Malta has discovered that the flock of ten White Storks that has been in Malta since Monday includes storks from a conservation reintroduction project in Italy. The flock was yesterday targeted in Marsa, with one of the birds killed bearing a colour numbered ring.

The White Stork is part of a flock originating from a re-introduction scheme set-up in Udine, North East Italy, and was on its first ever migration south to Africa.

When the White Storks arrived on the mainland from Comino on Monday, they landed on a crane in Marsa, attracting many local bird watchers and photographers. 3 of the flock were seen to have coloured rings on their legs, a process carried out to monitor the birds’ movements from a distance. Birdwatchers, using telescopes, were able to read the details on two of the rings, IAB PA190 and IAB PA200, the details of which were sent to the Italian ringing scheme to confirm the origin of the birds.

Yesterday evening, news arrived of the shooting of a stork in Marsa, with ALE officers apprehending a suspect. A photo published of the dead stork has confirmed this individual was one of the 3 ringed storks.

According to information obtained from the Italian ringing scheme,  PA190 and PA200 arrived in Malta from the Oasi Dei Quadira WildLife Sanctuary in Fagagna, Udine, in the north of Italy, a centre specifically set-up by the local community to help storks repopulate the area. Both storks were confirmed as being juveniles hatched at the centre in June within nests close to each other. They were last seen in the area on 9 September 2014, before embarking on their migration.

On the morning of 16 September, all 10 birds were seen resting on the roof of St Vincent De Paule residence for the elderly, however during the afternoon, Raptor Camp teams reported sightings of the flock with only 8 individuals. After the illegal shooting of one of this group, the 7-strong flock took to the skies again this morning.

This afternoon the flock has been sighted again by Raptor Camp teams, but the number of individuals is now down to 6, with rumours of another shot down in Ta’ Qali.

In reaction to the events of the last days, BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager, Nicholas Barbara, commented: “The ALE and WBRU have been effective in dealing with this killing which led to the recovery of the shot bird and apprehension of a suspect. However contrary to a government statement, such events are still a serious concern, as well as a reflection on the impact illegal hunting in Malta has on the rest of Europe”.

“The urge to target these protected species is something we continue seeing each and every time rare visitors, such as storks, grace these islands.” continued Nicholas Barbara, referring to the targeting of another flock of White Storks in March 2014 as well as eagles in October 2013.

“We commend the efforts to stem these illegalities, however these incidents indicate there is still a lot more to be done. Moves such as the removal of curfews as well as amnesties for protected bird collections in the past have done little to help the cause.” Barbara concluded.

BirdLife Malta appealed to the public to report any further sightings to police on 119 and the organisation on 21347 644.  It also thanked various members of the public who kept the organisation as well as the police updated on the storks’ movements.