A 22-year-old Gozitan hunter is facing charges for exceeding the quota of birds that can be hunted in the spring season, none of which had been reported to the authorities.

He was allegedly caught by the police in possession of three turtle doves hidden in a plastic bag beneath the front passenger seat of his car. During the spring season, hunters were not allowed to catch more than two birds in one day and not more than four throughout the whole season.

It is being alleged that the Gozitan hunter did not report any of the shot birds via SMS messages, as each hunter is obliged to do.

The incident occurred last Sunday, a day before the spring hunting season was closed three days early after a protected kestrel was shot and crashed bleeding into the yard of St Edward’s College in Cottonera.

The police did not issue any statement on the incident involving the Gozitan hunter and only confirmed the information this newspaper had obtained. The same happened for each hunting illegality exposed by the media during the season.

The total number of illegalities recorded by the police during the season is still not known.

The allegation that the Gozitan hunter had not reported any of the birds shot again raises doubts on the reliability of statistics. Spring hunting is banned under EU law but the government implements a derogation (exemption) that then has to be justified. The report that the government sends to the EU on the total number of turtle dove and quail killed during the season depend on the hunters themselves reporting their kills.

A referendum on whether to remove the legal notice that allows the spring season was won by the pro-hunting campaign by 2,200 votes last month.

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