A total of 24 suspected offenders were apprehended by law enforcement officers carrying out routine field patrols, inspections and spot checks on individual hunters up to last Sunday, the government said.
It said in a statement that 30 suspected offences were disclosed, of which 24 were of minor nature and were as follows:
|
Nature of the offence |
Number of cases |
|
Hunting within prohibited distances |
4 |
|
Possession of a shotgun with a magazine capable of holding more than two rounds of ammunition |
4 |
|
Possession of overloaded shotgun |
1 |
|
Failure to declare the shooting of a game bird |
1 |
|
Failure to be in possession of the special licence and / or carnet de chasse while hunting |
4 |
|
Failure to declare going out hunting on the carnet de chasse booklet. |
5 |
|
Leaving a firearm unattended |
2 |
|
Possession of heavy gauge shot |
2 |
|
Possession of pre-recorded bird calls |
1 |
|
Total |
24 |
Six other violations involved suspected targeting of protected birds, or hunting within a bird sanctuary:
|
Nature of the offence |
Number of cases |
|
Illegal trapping of protected birds |
3 |
|
Illegal shooting of a protected bird (swallow) |
1 |
|
Hunting in a bird sanctuary |
1 |
|
Possession of a shotgun during unpermitted hours (case of suspected illegal hunting) |
1 |
|
Total |
6 |
All cases are being prosecuted.
The government said that since the start of the season on April 12, several thousand migrating protected birds were observed over the Maltese islands, including several species of ducks, marsh harriers, Montagu’s harriers, kestrels, black kites, honey buzzards, Eleonora’s falcons, golden orioles, cuckoos, nightjars, swifts, swallows, flycatchers and even a very rare long-legged buzzard.
It said that around 70 police and army officers maintained a steady field deployment between 5am and 2pm, while a field complement of around 40 enforcement officers continued regular patrols until 9.30pm.
Further patrols were also carried out at specific locations during the night.
Officials from the Wild Birds Regulation Unit continued to provide technical assistance on a 24-hour basis, and have also carried out separate field inspections and patrols around specific locations.
Surveillance was supported by an unmanned aerial vehicle which flew over a dozen sorties over specific locations and protected areas during times when hunting was not permitted.