Endangered bird 'shot'

A Pallid Harrier, an extremely rare species, was shot in the south of the island early yesterday morning, according to BirdLife Malta, a week before the start of the controversial spring hunting season.

The organisation said it has also received photos of a dead Purple Heron, another protected species, from British tourists who were visiting Gozo last weekend.

The adult male Pallid Harrier was brought to BirdLife's offices by an individual.

The Pallid Harrier is an endangered species with a population estimated at between 310 to 1,200 breeding pairs in Europe. If the breeding population of this species in Russia is excluded, the population estimate for the rest of Europe amounts to only five to 51 pairs, according to BLM.

Furthermore, over the last seven years, this species has become extinct in two of the six remaining countries in which it breeds in Europe.

BirdLife Conservation Manager Andre Raine said the Palid Harrier, which is protected by both EU and Maltese law, had gunshot wounds to both wings and chest, with one wing so badly shot that bones stuck out.

In a second incident involving a Purple Heron, British tourists wrote to BLM saying they had come across the bird while walking with their children at Mgarr ix-Xini. The bird, which had been freshly killed, was found with half its beak blown off.

When contacted, Lino Farrugia, secretary of the hunters' federation, strongly condemned the incidents, provided they were "genuine".

"I haven't received any reports until now. I just hope this is a genuine case and that these birds were not in BirdLife's refrigerators," he said.

The next spring hunting season, the fourth "breach" of the Birds Directive since Malta joined the EU, according to BLM, will open between next Tuesday and May 20.