Fifty-two illegally imported juvenile songbirds were confiscated in Gozo but hundreds more are believed to be on the market because of the lack of rigorous checks by government officials.

The police received a tip-off of two locations where protected songbirds wearing false rings were being sold. They raided both places accompanied by officials from the Wild Birds Regulations Unit.

The 52 protected goldfinches were not wearing closed rings, indicating they were caught in the wild.

The fact that hundreds of finches not confiscated were juvenile continues to fuel suspicion that the birds wearing rings were also illegally imported since they do not breed in Malta.

Read more in the Times of Malta.

 

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