A 26-year old volunteer was assaulted this morning as she was searching for the remains of dead birds at Mizieb.
Fiona Burrows, from Nottingham, who is in Malta with the CABS team monitoring hunting in Malta, said she was alone when two men assaulted her, grabbing her and her bag.
She said she thought she was going to be abducted, but as she screamed repeatedly, her friends arrived and the men, who she said were hunters, demanded that she take them to whoever was leading her team.
Once they met the CABS leaders a heated argument ensued, with the hunters insisting that the CABS volunteers had no right to be at Mizieb.
At one time a German official from CABS was punched.
The situation was calmed down by a policeman who was accompanying the CABS team.
Ms Burrows said she was not injured, but has filed a police report.
CABS said they would be pressing charges against the two men.
Meanwhile, CABS and BirdLife Malta officials said at a press conference this afternoon that a year since they had discovered a ‘cemetery’ of birds in Mizieb, no proper investigation had been held.
They said that their volunteers in a search of sections of Mizieb this morning found 77 dead birds within a few hours. Most were hidden under stones and twigs, and included protected species.
Inaction to curb abuse was empowering hunters to commit illegalities, David Conlin, CABS team coordinator said. He insisted that the police force should have an environmental crime unit for ongoing monitoring and investigation of such matters.
Mr Conlin said that in the week that the CABS team had been in Malta, illegal hunting was observed at 32 sites.
Geoffrey Saliba, representing BirdLife Malta, insisted that there was no formal, legal agreement between the government and the hunters’ federation for the federation to manage the Mizieb woodland.
Yet, he complained, the hunters were still setting up hides at Mizieb, and signs had been set up telling picnickers not to approach them.
He said that BirdlLife had put up its own signs urging the public to reclaim the countryside.