The first recorded hunting illegality this season occurred yesterday morning when a protected cuckoo was shot down in Manikata, leading to a backlash against the Prime Minister on social media.

Evidence of the illegality was released by Birdlife Malta, whose volunteers filmed the bird falling out of the sky after a shot was heard.

There was a second shot and the hunter was captured on film searching the area.

The police were called and found the cuckoo hidden under a bush. Birdlife handed over all video evidence to the police.

Stefan Micallef, 43, from Naxxar was arraigned yesterday afternoon and pleaded guilty to shooting the protected bird. He said he mistook it for a turtle dove.

No illegality will be tolerated

He was fined €2,500, his shotgun and ammunition were confiscated and his licence was suspended for three and a half years.

Later he told Realta, on TVM, that he knew Birdlife were there so though he had perhaps been hasty, it was clearly a genuine mistake. It would have made no sense to shoot the bird intentionally.

After Times of Malta broke the story early yesterday morning, Twitter and Facebook were flooded with posts directed at Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, calling on him to keep his word using #josephzommkellmtek and #closetheseason.

Following the referendum, won by those in favour of the spring hunting season, the Prime Muscat stressed on Sunday that illegal hunting would not be tolerated. The referendum was won by 2,200 votes.

One Twitter user reminded Dr Muscat to listen to the 49.6 per cent who had voted no, while yes voters also took to social media saying this was not what they had voted for.

Asked by Times of Malta for his reaction to the criticism on social media, the Prime Minister said: “Our law enforcement worked effectively on this first case and a person was apprehended and arraigned on the same day. The warning to hunters is clear that no illegality will be tolerated.”

In a statement, the government said its position was clear: “If there are flagrant illegalities, the season will be closed.” It is not clear what extent of illegal activity would be considered “flagrant”.

The hunter convicted yesterday had posted a message on Facebook following the referendum result last Sunday, thanking everyone who voted yes. He committed himself to doing everything he could “to make sure the law is observed”.

One of the replies to his post said: “You can show us some gratitude by respecting the law and behaving yourselves. A lot of people voted against spring hunting and a lot [of] people have their eyes pinned on you guys for any incident that may happen.”

Kathleen Grima, legal advisor for FKNK, said Mr Micallef had been supended from the hunters’ federation.

The FKNK said that after its referendum campaign success, it would not allow anyone to spoil the achievement.

St Hubert Hunters “unreservedly” condemned the incident. “We emphatically state that given the mandate of the majority in a referendum that permits spring hunting, we will not tolerate any abuse,” the organisation said.

A Facebook page event was created, testing the waters for a possible protest aimed at putting pressure on the Prime Minister to keep his word.

The event, called #josephzommkellmtek and #closetheseason, is aiming for Sunday but is not yet confirmed.

Hunting is permitted from two hours before sunrise until 2pm on weekdays and until noon on weekends.

The national hunting bag limit for this season has been established at 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quail.

Court’s ‘strong message’

The court said it wanted to send a message that protected species must not be shot, adding that when in doubt hunters should refrain from pulling the trigger.

Stefan Micallef admitted to shooting a protected bird, handling it and attempting to keep it, but told the police he mistook the cuckoo for a turtle dove.

The incident was filmed by members of Birdlife Malta and the footage was later handed over to the police.

In court, Magistrate Aaron Bugeja was shown a picture of the two species, with defence lawyers Kris Busietta and Paul Gauci Maistre pointing out how similar the two looked, apart from the tail. The magistrate said this was the first such incident coming just days after the referendum on spring hunting.

He told the accused: “The incident only came to light because of the Birdlife volunteers who filmed it and the police officers who acted promptly on that information.

“It is useless for you to say that you made a mistake after you pulled the trigger. You should have thought things through before you opened fire.

“And you should not have tried to hide the dead bird after you realised you had made a mistake.”

Police Inspector Jurgen Vella prosecuted.