BirdLife Malta said today that 419 protected birds suffering gunshot injuries were reported or delivered to it and the National Museum of Natural History last year.

A further 74 incidents of illegal hunting and trapping were recorded during the year.

“This high figure still does not represent the true scale of illegal hunting in Malta, This is the tip of the iceberg and many more incidents go unreported as many injured or dead protected birds are never found,” Andre Raine, Birdlife Malta conservation manager said at a press conference.

The figures are included in a report entitled Illegal Hunting and Trapping Report 2007 and a supplementary report dealing with protected birds delivered to the natural history museum in 2007 and the first two months of this year.

Dr Raine said the reports also illustrated the international impact of illegal hunting activity in Malta. Four foreign-ringed protected birds were reported shot in Malta last year, two from Finland, one from Sweden and one from Germany,.

“One can actually state that conservation efforts abroad are being shot down in Malta” said Dr Raine. “The grim results presented in these reports show in no uncertain terms that illegal activities are rife in the Maltese countryside. It is telling,” he said.

The three most common species with gunshot wounds reported last year were the Common Kestrel (Spanjulett) Marsh Harrier (Baghdan Ahmar) and Honey Buzzard (Kuccarda) in that order.

He said that the protected birds delivered to BirdLidfe last year originated from 48 locations around Malta and Gozo and illegal hunting was reported in 84 locations. The worst areas were the area around Laferla Cross, Mizieb and Nadur.

Picture: A Marsh Harrier which suffered gunshot wounds.