The Committee Against Bird Slaughter said that in the past five days its volunteers filmed hunters shooting down and at protected birds on Malta.

A video published by the NGO on Youtube today shows two kestrels being targeted by hunters in Handaq and Mtarfa and two marsh harriers being shot at in the Burmarrad area.

The film also contains footage of marsh harriers with severe shotgun injuries and a shot Swift found by a CABS team near Safi.

CABS said its bird guards also witnessed the killing of a third kestrel close to Fiddien.

The incident was reported to the ALE who searched the area but did not find the dead bird or the hunter who shot it down. CABS also received reports and photos from local birdwatchers who observed and photographed a ruff and a marsh harrier with gunshot injuries close to the airport yesterday.

Also on yesterday a shot montagu's harrier was found by an individual near Siggiewi. The finders alerted Birdlife Malta whose members brought the bird to a vet.

An illegal mist net with a dead robin was found and filmed on the Marfa Ridge.

“As our teams can only monitor a small part of the island the incidents witnessed represent only a small percentage of the actual illegalities in the last days”, CABS general secretary Alexander Heyd stated.

CABS said it will publish more footage showing illegal hunting in the course of the next days.

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