Hunter saves night heron

A night heron that hit an electricity cable has been saved by a hunter and is currently being cared for by a person who enjoys the trust of the Federation for Hunting and Conservation.

The FKNK said it was told by several sources that the bird should be taken to BirdLife but after it protested, the bird was now in the care of a person who enjoyed the federation’s trust.

The federationsaid it did not want the bird to go to BirdLife because it had evidenced instances when BirdLife deceitfully used injured protected birds in its ongoing anti-hunting campaign. It said it was now informed that BirdLife Malta employees were pestering the person caring for the bird to hand it over to them.

Birdlife, the FKNK said, should realise that it was not an official authority on the birds of Malta, and that these birds were not theirs alone.

The FKNK was kept continuously updated with the status, breeding and quantity of Malta’s birds through its network of thousands of members who carried out observations on their hunting lands all over the Maltese islands throughout the year.

Hunters and trappers, it said, should keep reporting updates on tel. 9947 4503 and contact MEPA on 2290 0000 when they found injured birds. It also urged the public to use this service.