Another Osprey gunned down

An internationally protected bird, probably migrating from Scandinavia to Africa, had to be put down after it was shot by hunters.

An Osprey found by climbers at Fomm ir-Rih is the second protected species found shot in a week. The bird was ringed in Helsinki and was a juvenile on its first migration to Africa, according to BirdLife Malta.

A vet found lead pellets in both its wings and the bird could not be nursed back to health.

BLM president Joseph Mangion was furious: "Illegal hunting continues unabated and police presence in the countryside is not enough," he said.

Ospreys have been protected here since 1980. It is a summer visitor to northern Europe and is an irregular spring and autumn passage migrant in Malta. The European breeding population of Ospreys amounts to some 7,600, with about 1,300 in Finland.

Bird ringing is a research and conservation tool, providing more information on their lives and behaviour.

BirdLife says that no less than 27 Ospreys - more than 50 per cent of the number sighted in Malta - were shot in their first year of life, 13 of which were less than two months old after ringing.

Last weekend, BLM released five birds of prey which had been cured after being targeted by hunters.