A Pallid Harrier, one of Europe’s rarest birds, is this evening being sent to a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Sicily after it was shot in Gozo last Saturday.

The Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) is a rare visitor to Malta and is considered to be one of the most threatened birds of prey in Europe, BirdLife said.

The shooting was witnessed by a member of the public who handed the  injured bird to BirdLife. A veterinary surgeon examined it and diagnosed a fracture to its right wing.

“Luckily, the injury was not fatal and with proper treatment this bird is expected to make a full recovery. Malta does not have the rehabilitation facilities to care for wild birds with these kinds of injuries,” said Nicholas Barbara, BirdLife Malta Conservation Manager.

The Pallid Harrier is being sent to the Centro Recupero Fauna Selvatica, a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Sicily, which has successfully rehabilitated various shot birds that were sent over by BirdLife Malta in the past.

Last year, BirdLife sent another injured Pallid Harrier to a centre in Berlin. The bird, which had been shot during the spring hunting season of 2011, had suffered a fracture to its left wing, but was unable to recover flight and had to be euthanized.

Since the opening of the hunting season two and a half weeks ago, BirdLife said it has  received 10 shot protected species. Most of them had fatal injuries and had to be euthanized by a vet.

“The number of shot birds received by BirdLife Malta is just a small indicator of the vast scale of illegal hunting going on in Malta. Yet Malta has no wildlife crime unit or a proper rehab centre for injured animals. We expect the government to consider Malta’s wildlife as one of its assets and therefore one of the country’s priorities in the next budget,” concluded Mr Barbara.