Hunters shoot osprey despite army patrol

A young osprey was gunned down by hunters yesterday, despite being kept under constant watch by soldiers patrolling the southern coast.

Luckily, the bird was fished out of the sea and rescued from certain death in the nick of time by members of the army's Maritime Squadron. The squadron's rapid deployment team was conducting a routine early morning patrol against illegal hunting off Zonqor coast when an osprey was spotted flying about 20 metres off the shoreline.

Hunters were also noticed on land and at sea at this time, and the soldiers decided to follow the bird through the Marsascala area so as to thwart any attempts to shoot down the bird of prey.

However, at one stage, the soldiers saw an individual shooting at the bird from land. The osprey was hit and recovered from the sea by the army.

Realising that the army had recovered the downed bird, the hunter boarded a vehicle and fled from the scene, the army said.

The wounded osprey was taken to the Maritime Squadron's base in Haywharf, Floriana. It was later handed over to environment officials who took it for further treatment at the International Animal Rescue.

It is at least the third osprey known to have been shot down over the last few weeks.

BirdLife Malta president Joseph Mangion was incensed.

"It's evident that with the limited police enforcement resources, hunters can still afford to take a calculated risk.

The current enforcement efforts and court punishment are not providing the effective deterrent and with the authorities' giving in to the pressure of the hunting lobby, hunters are being given the message they can continue with impunity," he said.

The politicians' claims that those flouting the law are few and far between are nothing more than buzzwords to belittle the seriousness of the problem, Mr Mangion charged.

"A pair of breeding ospreys attract a million tourists at the RSPB Loch Garten reserve in Scotland every year, but in Malta hunters blast them out of the sky. The authorities need to take drastic action."