Flock of short-toed eagles targeted by hunters along Victoria lines

A flock of five protected short-toed eagles came under fire along the Victoria lines on Tuesday, BirdLife Malta has said.

“Shots at these birds were fired as they attempted to find a resting place for the night with one bird being filmed as it was shot down at Bingemma, while volleys of shots at these birds were fired along Tas-Santi, Dwejra and Mtarfa into the evening,” the NGO said.

Video footage of the Bingemma incident were passed on to police with a hunter identified as being the same person involved in a separate illegal hunting incident during closed season last August. Information pertaining to a second separate incident was also shared with police for further investigations.

Earlier this morning only two eagles were seen flying out of the northern part of the island, while searches undertaken by police are believed to so far have proven futile, the NGO said.

“Despite peak migration, only two EPU units are currently operative around the island, with occasionally a single unit struggling to keep up with reports of illegal hunting made by NGOs,” BirdLife said.

BirdLife Malta commented that such incidents are a direct consequence of the lack of proper governance of hunting whereby thousands of birds listed in taxidermy collections have gone unchecked for years, with recent allowances in transfers rekindling a demand for such birds to become taxidermy specimens.

It also said it is holding Minister Clint Camilleri politically responsible for allowing the opening of a hunting season without the necessary police resources, and for allowing a system where a hunter who was caught redhanded hunting illegally, is a month after, persisting in more wildlife crime decimating highly protected species.

It also remarked on the continuing situation with hunting federations taking no responsibility for such acts by their members.

Short-toed Eagles only appear annually in few numbers between September and November, and they are highly prized on taxidermy lists by hunters. “A 3pm hunting curfew to protect such birds of prey on arrival had been changed to 7pm in 2015, effectively allowing hunting to coincide with the arrival of these highly protected species.”