Firearms seized by police as BirdLife film child shooting bird in Mizieb

BirdLife Malta has released a photo of a hunter its says it filmed hunting with a child in Miżieb on the last day of this year’s spring hunting season.

The organization denounced the man’s actions as a “criminal act,” describing it as a repeat of last year. The photo was taken inside the FKNK-controlled area of Miżieb – an area which was handed over to the hunting lobby in a secret deal and which has seen a number of illegalities being reported from this area during the spring hunting season.

BirdLife did not name the man in the photograph, but said he is a close relative of a high-ranking Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) official, who last year was also filmed by a BirdLife Malta team from Miżieb, with a child handling and firing a shotgun in a case that is still awaiting trial.

“The footage caught today on film shows a different child being guided by the same elder person to aim at a bird from a fixed position, following which the kid fires a single shot,” said BirdLife.

Officers from the Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) of the Malta Police were dispatched to the hunters’ location, and firearms have been seized from the site.

Commenting on the events of the day, BirdLife Malta Head of Conservation Nicholas Barbara said: “The level of impunity we have seen during the past spring hunting season has been something remarkable. Most hunters were out targeting turtle-doves illegally. Today’s case marks the cherry on the cake where we have recorded the same felony committed by the same person on the same day of last year’s spring hunting season. The person in question is also close to FKNK, who in this case seems to be harbouring such individuals within their federation.”

The spring hunting season for this year has now come to a close. It had been running since the 10th of April. 

“Now that the season has closed, we call on the general public to continue keeping an eye open for any illegal hunting incidents and report them immediately to the police on 119, asking to be transferred through to EPU and to also inform BirdLife Malta on 2134 7645/6 or on the emergency (out of office hours) number 7925 5697. One can also visit http://bit.ly/BLMhunting to learn more about hunting in Malta, and how to report any illegal hunting taking place during the closed season,” BirdLife said in a statement.