FKNK names, dismisses 13 hunters

The Hunters Federation (FKNK) this evening published the names of 13 hunters whose membership was being withdrawn.

The FKNK had warned it would 'name and shame' hunters who ignored its directive. It said that 23 hunters had bought the licence, eight of whom were from Gozo, but it only published 13 names.

In a statement, the federation said that 99.8% of Maltese hunters flatly refused this year’s spring-hunting 'piteous and discriminatory' season offered by the Maltese government.

The reported catch by the 23 individuals was of six turtle doves in the six half-days of the season between April 24 and 30.

The fact that not a single quail was reported further confirmed the ignorance of whoever proposed such a season to the government, since by the last week of April quail migration in the Maltese Islands was normally over, the federation said.

The federation said these 23 hunters should know that if the government persisted in the same manner when opening future spring-hunting seasons, then their next chance to buy a special hunting licence for spring would only be possible in the discriminatory ‘lottery-draw’ of 2014.