(Adds St Hubert Hunters' statement) BirdLife is appealing for information on the shooting of a protected Hungarian Spoonbill in the Salina Bird Sanctuary yesterday afternoon.
It said in a statement that the bird was shot at around 3.50 p.m. following which two men in a blue car drove along the main road, stopping close to the shot bird.
One of the men got out of the car, recovered the shot Spoonbill, and got back into the car, which then drove off. The number plates, covered by cloth, could not be read.
The Spoonbill had been ringed with a unique combination of six coloured rings as a chick in Fejer, Hungary on the June 13, 2009. This was part of a Europe-wide study on Spoonbills by a group of specialist ringing researchers.
It arrived in Malta earlier this week and stayed in the Salina Bird Sanctuary Area until it was shot yesterday.
This is the second time in just nine months a protected bird ringed as a chick as part of a conservation project abroad was shot down in the Salina Bird Sanctuary, BirdLife said.
In October 2010, a German ringed Osprey was recovered by BirdLife Malta after being shot in the sanctuary.
Although the bird was sent to a rehabilitation centre in Germany it could not overcome its severe shotgun injuries.
BirdLife said that yesterday's shooting consists of a whole set of contraventions - spoonbills are protected birds under national and EU law, it is currently closed season, no hunting may take place in bird sanctuaries, and no shooting may take place within 50 metres of a main road.
The Hungarian spoonbill was shot down and recovered within metres of the very busy coast road in broad daylight.
BirdLife appealed for anyone with information to contact the police or the organisation.
The police can be reached on 119, 2122 1111, BirdLife on 2134 7646.
HUNTERS CONDEMN SHOOTING
St Hubert Hunters unreservedly condemned the shooting but took a sarcastic dig at BirdLife saying that, unfortunately, though many relevant details of the perpetrators were known to the organisation, their prowess at close up photography did not serve to identify the perpetrators.
The hunters urged anyone who might have witnessed the incident to forward any relevant details to the police.
They hoped that apart from providing excellent pictures of birds and sensational news BirdLife might also consider providing incriminating proof of the law breakers they witnessed.