The spring hunting season would be suspended after a pattern of illegalities and not at the first reports, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Dr Muscat told Times of Malta he was not averse to closing the season and had done so in the past, but this would be after more than just a couple of illegalities. He was reacting to criticism levelled against him for failing to close the spring season after two reports of illegal hunting in as many days.

“Keep to your word, you had said hunting would stop with illegalities,” conservationist and biologist Steve Micallef wrote on his Facebook account yesterday.

The criticism stems from comments Dr Muscat made during a press conference when the hunting lobby won the spring hunting referendum on Sunday. Dr Muscat described the victory as the hunters’ “last chance” and said he would close the season if there was flagrant abuse, as he had done in the past.

He pointed out yesterday that when he closed the season last autumn it was after more than a couple of incidents. During the post-referendum press conference, Dr Muscat also called on hunters to be vigilant and report those who broke the law.

It would seem this advice may have been heeded as Dr Muscat yesterday suggested the latest report of illegal hunting activity may have come from within the hunting community.

“What I will say is that the information was very precise, and it didn’t fall from the sky, the bird did,” he said, declining to comment further.

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